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nightcourtreader · 5 months

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💞 Like calls to like💞

“Like call to like” is a quote that SJM has stated numerous times in the acotar series. This quote also goes for her mates. SJM is known to want her mates equal. She’s not known to do an opposites attract mating bond.

From what I gathered from the text with feysand, Nessian, gwynriel, and elucien; each couple has many similarities between them.

Based on what I gathered, which is canon evidence throughout the series, we can see that Azriel and Gwyn have enough connections and similarities that make them equals. And since we know elucien is already mated, we can see why they are deemed equals.

✨Feysand✨

• They are one of the most, if not just the most, powerful fae in Prythian. (Rhys is the most powerful high lord in Prythian history & Feyre has all 7 high lords powers.)

•Feyre’s birthday is on the longest night of the year (winter solstice) and Rhysand is high lord of the night court.

•Both of them rule the night court with the “high title”. (Feyre is the first leading lady of a court to have a title that is equal to an high lord.)

•Both are compassionate when it comes to their family. They really love their families.

•Both are morally gray characters. Feyre has a mean streak so does Rhys. Rhys is more advertised to be morally gray but I just think Feyre is too.

•Both felt/feel like they are monsters at some point.

•Both are cunning.

•Both have calculated minds.

•Both will become monsters to defend their love ones.

•Both felt like they weren’t worthy of good things at some point.

•Don’t like to share the burden of their troubles.

•Both sacrificial fools.

•They both are trained warriors and fighters.

🗡Nesta & Cassian🗡

•Cassian is the general/commander of the Illyrian’s and we get foreshadowing that Nesta would be the general/commander of the valkyries.

•They both are trained warriors/fighters.

•Both thought less of themselves. (Cassian often called himself just a bastard born nobody and Nesta thought she wasn’t shit and a waste of space.)

•They both thought they didn’t deserve one another.

•They both thought they didn’t fit each other’s standards.

•Both have calculated minds.

•Both have minds that can calculate a battlefield. (We know this due to Cassian being a general/commander but we see that Nesta used a ballroom as her battlefield to spite a girl who was mean to Elain.)

•Both have a connection with death. Cassian walks alongside death because he’s a warrior. Nesta has death magic and is called lady death.

•They both have a connection to dancing and music. (Nesta dances and loves music. Cassian has so much skill and precision in battling that is was like a dance. And for him, battle is a symphony. He has a death dance. (Page 509, ACOWAR)

•Training helps both of them clear their heads.

•They rather put themselves in danger than their families.

•Both have insecurities and doubt themselves.

•At one point both of them were filled with self loathing.

•They both have the power and abilities to be courtiers.

•Both hate the spring pollen.

•Both have allergies.

•Both were poor and starving when they were younger & growing up.

•Nesta has the title lady death, and Cassian has the title lord of blooshed which can also mean death.

⚔️Gwyn & Azriel⚔️

Both of them believe that they are too impure/dirty/scarred.

I think Gwyn sees herself as impure because she thinks she doesn’t deserves to wear her priestess stone, which ties into the guilt of her sister.

Azriel always thinks negative thoughts of his scarred hands and with his bonus chapter we see he kind of thinks his job in Hewn City taints him.

They both believe they don’t deserve the people in their life and good things.

“He might have defied and proved those illyrian pricks wrong at every turn, but it won’t matter if Rhys makes him Prince of Velaris, he’ll see himself as a bastard born nobody, and not good enough for anyone.” (pg 511, ACOMAF)

Once again, we see that Gwyn feels that she doesn’t even deserve to wear her invoking stone because she failed her sister and she blames herself, to the point she couldn’t see Catrin’s grave.

They both have the Illyrian title, Carynthian, for conquering the blood rite. (Even though Gwyn decided she rather have the valkyrie title).

Both are trained warriors/fighters.

They both can sing.

Gwyn was the one who gave the readers something new and personal about Azriel.

They both are very competitive.

“Roslin, Ananke, and Deirdre were close on their heels, propelling Gwyn to push her group harder. She wanted to be the first. Wanted Nesta and Emerie and her to be the ones who wiped the smirks from Azriel’s and Cassian’s faces. Especially Azriel’s. (pg 624, ACOSF)

“Who ever lands the next blow wins.” “That’s ridiculous,” Az panted back. “We go until one of us eats dirt.” Az had a viscous competitive streak. It wasn’t boastful and arrogant like Cassian, or possessive and terrifying like Amren’s. No, it was quiet, cruel and utterly lethal. (Pg 254, ACOSF)

When it comes to challenges/tasks, they both have to do it/finish it and if they don’t they get frustrated and see their selves as failures and push hard to finish whatever it is.

“Tell me you found their secret to cutting the ribbon.” “You and that ribbon.” Nesta muttered, shutting the tome. Of all of them, Gwyn had become the most relentless about succeeding. (Pg 519, ACOSF)

Assess—and brood, it seemed, since Azriel had barely managed a polite hello to me before launching into squatting with Rhysand, his face grim and tight. They’d been at it now for an a hour straight, their slender blades like flashes of quicksilver as they moved around and around. I wondered if it was as much for practices as it was for Rhys to help his spymaster work off his frustration. (Page 293, ACOMAF) We see that Azriel couldn’t get his spies into the mortal queens court and was frustrated about it. Plus he wasn’t happy when hybern attacked summer and he didn’t know about it.

They both are very stubborn.

“The argument with Rhys this morning had been swift and brutal: Azriel insisted he could fly—fight with the legions, as they planned. Rhys refused. Cassian refused. Azriel threatened to slip into shadow and fight anyway. Rhys merely said that if he so much as tried, he’d chain Azriel to a tree (Pg 610, ACOWAR)

I’m going in,” Azriel said. “No” rhys snapped. But Azriel was spreading his wings, the sunlight so stark on the new, slashing scars down the membrane. “chain me to a tree Rhys,” Azriel said softly. “Go ahead.” He began checking the buckled on his weapons. “I’ll rip it out of the ground and fly with it on my damned back.” (ACOWAR, page 6??)

“No.” “I can use the bottleneck of the path right there,” Nesta plowed ahead, pointing to the space beyond the archway, “to keep them off long enough for you two to reach the top. Or dawn to come. Whichever happens first." Gwyn bared her teeth. “I refuse to leave you here." Emerie's pained face told Nesta enough: she understood. Saw the logic. Nesta said to Gwyn, “It is the only way." Gwyn screamed, “IT IS NOT THE ONLY WAY!* And then she was sobbing. “I will not abandon you to them. They will kill you.” “You need to go, Nesta said, even as her hands began shaking. “Now." “No," Gwyn wept. “No, I won't. I'll face it with you." (Page 704, ACOSF)

Would do anything for their friends/family, including literally fighting to their death and sacrifice themselves to save the ones they love.

We see this with Gwyn not wanting to leave Nesta be herself to go against the Illyrian’s during the blood rite. That Gwyn would rather die than leave Nesta on her own. (Pg 704, ACOSF)

“I wondered if the shadowsinger was usually the first to throw himself into danger.” (pg 180, ACOMAF)

•Passionate about the ones and really love the people that they consider family.

•Gives their family a helping hand when it comes to physical and emotional factors and barriers. Azriel wanted to help Feyre learn to fly because he knows the emotional and physical barriers in learning how to fly late. We see that Gwyn helps Nesta with breathing techniques to calm her mind.

Azriel tucked in his wings, his beauty features uncharacteristically soft. Contemplative. “I’ll teach you.” “Are you certain?” I asked. The unreadable mask sloped back over Azriel’s face. “Rhys and cass were taught how to fly so young that they barely remember it.” But Azriel, locked in his hateful fathers dungeons like some criminal until he was eleven, denied the ability to fly, flight, to do anything bud illyrian instincts screamed at him to do. (Page 187, ACOWAR)

During ACOSF, (pages 409-411), Gwyn helped Nesta feel settled into her own skin for the first time in her life with mind stilling techniques that Gwyn help teach her.

Az & Gwyn both have similar quotes and sayings to their selfs to help them get through things.

“You are immortal,” he said quietly. “You are very hard to break”. A pause. “That’s what I told myself.” (Pg 305, ACOWAR).

Gwyn whispered, “I am the rock against which the surf crashes.” … “nothing can break me.” (621, ACOSF)

TRIGGER WARNING. They both were abused, whether emotionally or physically by the hands of men.

Azriel was physically trapped by his father in a cell and his hands were burned by fire by his brothers. He was only allowed to see his mother a hour out a of week.

Gwyn is trapped by the fear of living in the outside world due to the physical abuse she received by men in Sangravah, seeing her sister brutally murdered in front of her, and maybe due to the events of the Blood Rite.

They both have some interest in their worlds, the universe and have a connection to the overlapping worlds.

Gwyn worked with Merrill, who wrote about overlapping worlds and Gwyn is a researcher who helped Merrill with it.

Both are aware of the trove, which the harp is connected to other worlds.

Azriel is the one to find Bryce and his knife is the counterpart to her sword.

“In its center, a massive, working model of their world, the stars and planets around it. Az, of course had been fascinated. Rhys had built the model himself centuries ago. It could not only track the sun, but also tell time, and it somehow allowed Rhys to ponder the existence of life behind their own world.” (Page 37, ACOSF)

Both of them blame themselves and feel guilty over things they cannot control, nor was their fault.

Gwyn feels guilty and blames herself for Catrin’s death. She thinks she failed her.

Azriel feels guilty on the fact that he didnt save Mor before she was violated, he didn’t help Cassian before he was gutted in the second war, that he didn’t find out beforehand that Hybern was going to attack the summer court, etc.

Hybern had made their grand move at last. And we had not anticipated it. I knew Azriel would take the blame upon himself. One look at the shadowsinger as he prowled though the front door of the town house minute later, Cassian on his heels, told me that he already did. (Page 347, ACOWAR)

Both gather information.

Azriel is the spymaster who gathers intel for the Night Court. (I also think that Azriel also research things due to him being the spymaster as well. So assuming Azriel goes to the library for work is not so far fetched.)

Gwyn is a researcher who helps gathers information for Merrill. Plus she lives in a library period.

Their occupations puts pressure on them, causing them to hold themselves to high standards because they don’t like to fail.

She told me little of the specifics—even less about how the frustration of not being able to get his spies or himself into those courts took a toll on him. The standards to which he held himself, she confided in me, bordered on sadistic. (Page 376, ACOMAF)

Gwyn went on, “These females took me in. Gave me shelter and healing and family.” Again, her large eyes darkened. I cannot stand to fail them in anything. Especially someone as demanding as Merrill. Even when it might seem trivial.” (Page 148, ACOSF)

*They both have connections to the color blue.

They both have blue stones. Gwyn has a blue invoking stone and Azriel has a blue siphon.

When making the friendship bracelets one of Gwyn’s color was blue.

Gwyn’s priestess robes are blue.

Gwyn has blue teal eyes.

*They both have trouble sleeping.

“Bad dreams,” Nesta said. Gwyn asked, on Nesta’s other side, “do you have them often?” “Yes.” “Me too,” Gwyn said quietly. “Some nights, I need a sleeping potion from our healer to knock me out.” Gwyn said playing with her hair, “I dream of my past too.” (Page 329, ACOSF)

“Sleep, they seemed to whisper in his ear. Sleep. I wish I could, he answered silently. But sleep so rarely found him these days. Too many razor sharp thoughts sliced him any time he grew still long enough for them to strike. Too many wants and needs left his skin overheated and pulling across his bones. So he slept only when his body gave out, and even then only for a few hours.”(Azriel’s bonus chapter.)

They both are described as beautiful.

Gwyn nimbly rolled to her feet, grinning so broadly that Nesta was momentarily taken aback by it. The priestess has been pretty in the library, but with that joy, that confidence as she aimed for the three priestesses she had emerged into a beauty to rival Merrill or Mor. (Pg 317, ACOSF)

“But the second male, the more classically beautiful” (pg 158, ACOMAF)

Azriel was nothing short of beautiful. Even with those scarred hands and the shadows that flowed from him like smoke, she’d always found him to be the prettiest of the three males who called themselves brothers. (Page 100, ACOSF)

I think that Gwyn has the potential to also be a spy. She’s already physically trained. She’s able to help research for any future missions. In ACOSF, I don’t think there’s a coincidence for SJM to go into great detail on how Gwyn led the beast to the camp by spying on the beast for 2 days and learning their habits during the blood rite and have Azriel explain 6 pages later how spying is all about waiting for the right moment and Gwyn just so happen to have and say “timing that was just good luck.”

“I kept to the trees the first two nights, watching the beasts, and I spotted that horrible male and his companions this morning. Saw they’d found my nightgown and displayed it, and I knew they were hunting for you. I thought I’d take them out before they could find you.” “You lead the beast right to them.” “I learned where the beasts sleep during the day,” Gwyn said. “and that they get very angry when awoken.” she pointed to the cuts on her face, her hands. “I barely out ran that one as I led it toward the camp. My timing was just good luck, though.” (Pg 682, ACOSF)

“Azriel sharpen truth teller. the Black Blade absorbed the dim sunlight trickling through the forest canopy above. “it seems you’ve forgotten how much of spying is waiting for the right moment. people don’t engage in their evil deeds when it’s convenient to you. Cassian rolled his eyes. “I stopped spying because it bored me to death. I don’t know how you put up with this all the time.” “It suits me.” (page 688, ACOSF)

🌻Lucien & Elain🌻

They both can “see”. Elain is a seer & Lucien has a special eye that can see through glamours and spells.

Both are associated with nature, Elain is seen/associated with flowers (usually a rose) & Lucien is seen to be sunlight due to the fact Lucien name literally means “light” & his biological dad is the high lord of the Day court (we all know majority of flowers need sunlight to grow).

Both of their names mean light! Lucien’s name means light and Elain names means sun ray/sun light/ shining light.

They are both associated with animals. Elain is associated with a fawn and Lucien is associated with being a fox.

In the series we really didn’t see the both of them really speak up or defend themselves, and let people treat them any type of way, until ACOSF we see changes in that. Elain stepped up and wanted to be apart of helping with the dread trove.

They are both very underestimated by others in the series. Although Feyre & Rhys discussed how they know that Lucien has much more to offer. Amren & Rhys know that Elain has much to offer because Amren said that Elain is fully capable of defending herself against the dread trove and in the bonus chapter rhys mentioned that Elain has much more to give.

They both don’t like to be around cruelty. (we see that Lucien threw up seeing a fae have his wings cut off and looking pale when seeing a spiked head in the fountain in ACOTAR and we know Elain does not like the brutality of Hewn City & pales at the sight of a blade.)

They both are social butterfly’s. Lucien is known to know how to talk to people and he’s known to make many friends across different courts. Lucien also knows enough about the autumn court citizens to recognize who is apart of the court and who isn’t. Once Feyre’s family got their money and status back, Elain was very social with a group of girls and greeted everyone at the ball they threw in Feyre’s honor in ACOTAR. Nesta said that Elain used to love balls and parties.

They both dress good no matter what happens. Feyre pointed out in ACOTAR that even in poverty Elain still looked lovely and Cassian pointed out no matter how many jobs Lucien had, he still dresses good in ACOSF.

Both of them had their previous love interest “ripped” away from them. Graysen was no longer Elain’s after she turned fae because one, she was fae and two, became Lucien’s mate. Elain had no way of stopping herself from becoming fae. Lucien saw his girlfriend be executed in front of him and he had no way to get to her or stop it due to his family.

Don’t fit into their family’s courts. Lucien doesn’t fit into the Autumn Court. Elain is said to not fit in the Night Court by Cassian when they all visited Hewn City.

#pro elucien #pro gwynriel #gwynriel #feysand #nessian #elucien #mating bond #like calls to like

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foxylady13 · 1 month

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Nessian and Gwynriel Connection

This is the moment Nesta experiences the mating bond between her and Cassian on Solstice night:

Notice how the mating bond of Nessian is described as golden threads that shimmered and sang and it's the music between their souls?

This is the moment Azriel is leaving Gwyn's presence during the Bonus Scene of his:

Notice how Azriel could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him and his shadows sang back in answer?

Oh, and these two scenes? They both take place on Solstice night.... That can't be a coincidence we get confirmation of Nessian mating bond moving into place between them on the same night Azriel experiences what he does with Gwyn.

And that's not Gwyn using her 'lightsinger' power to lure him anywhere or do anything to him. That's the mating bond that was hinted at between them and is going to be revealed in their book. Gwyn isn't a lightsinger, she's his mate.

That's the undeniable proof and foreshadowing Sarah is known for. Some people are just too blind to see it 🤷‍♀️

#gwynriel #mating bond #they are mates and here's the undeniable proof #azriel's shadows #they know what they're doing #they know who his mate his #nessian #pro gwynriel #gwyneth berdara #azriel shadowsinger #gwyn and azriel #azriel and gwyn #gwyn x azriel #azriel × gwyn #this is foreshadowing

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acourtofladydeath · 16 days

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Poly+ ACOTAR Week Day 3: Secrets

Morrigan sleeps at the town house after a night out and as she's trying to sneak out, she learns a secret about four people she never expected to find together.

AKA: Mor and Rhys hear some HOT GOSS because they're SNOOPS.

Have some cousin bonding and a secret polycule for @polyacotarweek day 3. Read a snippet below the cut, or the full fic on AO3 here!

Morrigan walked down the steps of Rhys’s Velaris town house quietly. After a rowdy night out at Rita’s she’d decided to sleep here since it was closest to the bar. What she’d forgotten in her drunken state was that Eris was visiting the Night Court today, and Rhysand had put him up in the town house. She winced as she placed some weight on the creaky stair a few steps down, containing her sigh of relief when, for once, it didn’t make a sound. As Morrigan reached the halfway point on the stairs, she heard a voice that made her suddenly stop. “Come on, Eris. You’ve gotta work with us here.” Cassian’s voice had Morrigan’s heart pounding. Why was he here? What could he possibly need with Autumn Court’s heir? Eris’s scoff wafted up the stairs, sharp even from where Morrigan hunched almost a floor above. “I’m pretty sure I’m already doing that, you brute. Rhysand doesn’t know truly why I’m here because you three didn’t want to tell him yet.” This was all too much for Morrigan and her head began to spin. She sat down on the stairs as quietly as possibly and reached out to her cousin with her mind. What’s wrong, Mor? Rhys responded almost instantly, sensing her panicked state. Get to the town house. Eris is here with Cass and two other people. They’re planning something they’re specifically keeping from you and I don’t know what it is. Rhys’s reply was clipped and hard, Where are you exactly? On that creaky step. They’re down in the living room so winnow to the second floor and walk down to meet me. Moments later, Rhysand was silently making his way down the steps to sit beside Morrigan. Have they said anything else? Rhys asked in her mind, cocking his head toward the living room to try and hear the people shuffling around. Mor shook her head, remaining silent as they listened in on the conversation below.

Continue reading at the first cut on AO3.

Please let me know if you would like off or on my taglist!: @pippsmcgee @born-to-riot @chunkypossum @bubybubsters @queercontrarian @yanny-77 @fieldofdaisiies @iftheshoef1tz @secret-third-thing

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queen--of--shadows · 1 year

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Healing Shadows: Part 11

Azriel x Reader

Summary: Reader is a gifted surgical healer and water bender. Rhysand needs her help when he finds out about Feyre’s risky pregnancy. Azriel finds out reader is his mate.

Warnings: smut

Word Count: 1,808

Notes: thank you all so much for all the love on my very first fanfic! 🥹 (and my first time writing smut 🫣) I hope I did the series justice and you all love this ending as much as I do 🥲 let me know what you think 🖤 ps I see all your requests and will get to them soon! thank you for sending them in 🫶🏼

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

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Part 11: Forever

Mate.

Breathing became difficult. You slowly backed away from him, off the couch and into the kitchen.

“What?” Your voice trembled, barely above a whisper.

Azriel opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out.

His shadows, once swirling around your arms and hands, were nowhere to be found.

The buzz from the wine wore off as your heart sank into your stomach and you were hit with cold sobriety. The familiar prickle of anxiety tingled its way down your arms and legs, into your fingers and toes.

“How am I your mate?”

“I don’t know how, Y/N. I just know that you are.” Azriel’s eyes were pleading, begging, searching yours for an answer. “I’ve known since the night of Solstice at Rita’s. That’s when it hit me.”

At Rita’s? When you were all over Lucien?

It made sense.

The way Azriel was glaring at you that night, his moodiness during training, how you heard his thoughts in your head as if they were your own.

He wasn’t a daemati. He was your mate.

It made sense, yes, but why didn’t you know? Why haven’t you felt anything?

You began pacing, cold sweat trickling down your back. The cabin suddenly became too hot.

“I don’t get it,” you said, your back facing Azriel as you ran to the kitchen window, desperate for fresh, cold air in your burning lungs. You shut your eyes, letting the cool breeze calm and center you. “If you’re my mate, why don’t I feel anything? Why hasn’t it hit me, too?”

You heard Azriel push off the couch and take a few tentative steps toward you. “Sometimes the bond clicks for one person and not the other. I’m not sure why it hasn’t for you yet.” A few steps closer. “But…you don’t feel anything? You haven’t felt any spark between us? I…I can’t stay away from you, Y/N. You drive me absolutely mad. I haven’t stopped thinking about you, day and night. You don’t feel even…a tiny bit of that?”

Your body was on fire from his confession. Of course, you felt the same. But you had suppressed all those thoughts, desires, feelings. You told yourself it was impossible. Until today, you thought Elain was his mate.

But it was you.

His equal, his match, his mate.

You whipped around to find Azriel standing closer than you had expected.

“Of course, I—“

You choked on your words—something tugged in your stomach so hard that you almost stumbled toward him.

You looked down, convinced there was a thread caught in your shirt that was pulling you, but…no. This was deeper, something visceral, hidden in your body and soul.

You slowly lifted your gaze to him, your heart stuttering at his achingly beautiful face.

There it was.

A thin golden thread, connected from your chest to his, glowing between you both.

Azriel’s shadows swarmed around you, wrapping you both in a frenzy of darkness as the rest of the cabin melted away. It was just you and him, Y/N and Azriel. He was suddenly the center of your universe, his breath becoming one with yours. You felt him in every fiber of your being, every beat of your heart, every breath of air in your lungs. You could hear his shadows chanting softly in the distance, mate mate mate, a beautiful, melodious song that was written in your soul. You were his and he was yours and nothing else mattered, not now, not ever. The stunning, kind, strong, patient, beautiful male standing before you was your mate.

Your breath caught as you reached for the bond and gave it a tug, and Azriel gasped in response.

The bond shone brighter, stronger.

“You see it?” His eyes were watery as he asked with a deep, soft laugh, the one that sent shivers along your bones.

“My mate,” you breathed, marveling at the bond, and within a second Azriel had you pinned against the kitchen counter, his strong arms wrapped around your waist as he leaned in and growled against your ear, “Say it again.”

Warmth pooled in your core at his intoxicating scent, stronger than ever. You tangled your fingers in his hair as you moaned again, “My mate.”

Azriel’s chest was heaving, his breathing uneven. He pulled back with a crazed look in his sparkling hazel eyes, studying your face. Tears streamed down your cheeks as you nodded, laughing and crying all at once.

“Do we have to do anything? To make it official?”

Azriel broke out in a feral grin. “You just have to feed me,” he murmured against your neck. “And then I’ll be feasting on you.”

You shuddered at the thought, leaning to your side to grab an apple off the counter, bringing it up to Azriel’s mouth. He took a slow bite, your eyes fixating on the juice that escaped the corner of his mouth, dripping down his face and onto your fingers. The fruit dropped from your grasp, all you could focus on was his soft, plump lips as he leaned down, licking the juice off your fingers, never breaking eye contact. Fuck, you were barely breathing. You craned your neck in turn, licking the juice from the side of his mouth up to his lips. You waited, savoring the moment of being so close to him, drunk on his scent, unable to think about anything other than his hard body up against yours. Azriel grabbed the back of your head and leaned in, pressing his lips against yours, flicking his tongue across the seam of your mouth. His shadows swirled faster and faster around you, and all that was left was their sweet, soft darkness, cocooning you and your mate. You opened for him, your tongues instantly dancing and exploring each other.

Azriel’s restraint snapped at the sound of your moaning into his mouth.

You wrapped your legs around his muscled torso as he carried you effortlessly into the bedroom, tossing you onto the soft bed before ripping off his black sweater, his beautiful Illyrian tattoos on full display. Your mouth watered at the sight of him, his perfectly sculpted body, his massive wings, the bulge in his leathers.

“Az…” you groaned, needing his touch, his mouth on yours, his body against you.

Azriel stared at you, mouth open. “I haven’t heard you say my name since the first night we met.”

You held out your hand, guiding him into bed. “Again,” he commanded between kisses on your cheek, your jaw, your ear.

“Azriel.”

He whimpered at the sound of his name on your beautiful lips, kissing your neck as his hand trailed up your stomach, cupping your breast and rolling your nipple between his fingers. His touch was electric and you needed more.

Az stroked his way down the plane of your stomach until he reached the waistband of your leggings, slipping his hand underneath. A growl escaped him as he felt the wetness soaking you through the fabric. “Fuck, so wet already,” he ground out, barely coherent through his lust for you. You arched into his touch, grabbing a handful of his silky dark hair while he teased you, flicking his tongue across your nipples and trailing kisses down to your pelvis.

“Please, Az,” you begged, needing his mouth on you.

Azriel obliged, tearing your leggings off with one strong hand and pinning you down with the other. “Do you taste as sweet as you smell, pretty girl?” he purred against the inside of your thigh. You writhed under his touch, unable to bear his teasing.

Azriel began with a long, sweeping stroke of his tongue against you, his soft, warm fingers separating your slick folds, moaning into you, salivating at your taste. “Fuck, you taste even better than I dreamed.” You ran your fingers through his hair, over his massive shoulders, until you found his wings, now spread to their full, massive extent behind him.

His wings.

With a soft touch, you slid the pad of your finger across the inside of his wing, and Az released an animalistic growl in response. You continued playing with him as he feasted on you, sliding and pumping his fingers deep inside at a perfect, aching rhythm, until he was stroking that sensitive spot in your core.

“Az,” you rasped, and he knew you were close. He kept pumping inside, sucking your sensitive bud until you were screaming his name, arching off the bed and climaxing on his beautiful face.

You needed him still, desire coursing and aching through every vein.

“Come here,” you barely managed to get out through breathless pants, grabbing Az by the arm and pulling him towards you.

You looked down between you two, Azriel’s incredible length rubbing against your sensitive, soaked pussy. “Are you sure?” he asked, kissing and sucking on your neck. You had never been more sure of anything. You rocked your hips up to meet his in answer. Az immediately reached down, lining himself with your entrance and slowly inching in. With the first push of himself, you fell back, head slamming against the pillow, the sensation sparking fire through your body. Azriel kept going, inch by inch, until he was entirely inside. He fit perfectly, like he was made for you. You could barely breathe, barely think as you began rocking your hips again, letting Az know you were ready. He slowly pulled out, almost to the tip of his glorious cock before slamming his hips against yours. Az began pounding you at a devastatingly slow pace, climax building in your core.

Azriel pulled away from your neck to press his forehead against yours.

“My mate,” he breathed against your mouth. “I love you.”

His words were your undoing.

You cried out his name, over and over with each thrust, the bond shining brighter than ever between you two. Azriel locked his mouth around yours, moaning into you as his pace became wild, tears lining your eyes as you both became the stars and the moon and the sun and the sky, wind and fire and earth and breath and the entire universe, all at once as you both found your release together. You were his and he was yours until the end of time. Az drew out the maddening pleasure until every inch of your body was burning with desire and want.

“I love you,” you said back as he finally eased down, laying his head in the crook of your neck, his warm, muscular body heaving as you both tried to catch your breath.

Az pulled out slowly and rolled over to your side. “You’re mine,” he whispered, his hazel eyes burning with love and adoration. Your eyes welled up again at the sight of your beautiful mate. You traced a finger along the tattoos spanning his broad chest as you whispered back, “And you’re mine.”

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

taglist: @cute-baby-ducks @brekkershadowsinger @iangelofmusic @j-pendragonx @foggypeanutmongeroaf @luckypersonmentality @eddiesbixch696 @davinaclaire16 @lexie1o9 @thewarriormoon @halfmeltedcandles @cartoonnerdgirl @wrensical003 @abigailrose98 @cafe-inaaa @moonlightazriel @caosfanblr @redbleedingrose @lovebookie123 @sarahstone217 @minetticatinwonderland @jtargs @bookish-dream @blurredlamplight @rellik181 @simplywitchy @his-sweet-nightmare @theravenphoenix26 @icantthinkofanythingplease @sebby-staan @brooke3132 @azriels-angels @mrs-azriel @sparklymiraclecheesecake @cityofidek @dreambeliever13 @atlascorriganlovescookies @fo-cus @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @elenas-safe-spot @dreambeliever13 @mysticalcheescakemiracle @sarahstone217

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wingsdippedingold · 25 days

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The purpose of the mating bond (TL;DR at the bottom)

I was thinking about the mating bond (and consequently how much I hate it) and I started wondering about it's purpose. Apologies: This is barely organized rambling.

Our current explanations are: to create the most powerful offspring, and that the mates are perfect equals. We know its not romance since there are examples of unhappy mates so I'm ignoring that.

Rhysand suspected he was Feyre's mate while she was still human, aka before she was a high fae, and they were still mated after she was. This means that the bond doesn't care about physical bodies, which would play a part in powerful children since fae are just supposed to be so much better than humans in EVERY WAY. Therefore it had nothing do with offspring, but knowing SJM Nyx is gonna be even more powerful as an adult because her favs need to be worshipped like gods.

If the purpose was to create the most powerful offspring that wouldn't even work logistically? The two most powerful beings being mated would work, but everyone after that, not so much. Its kinda weird to explain so imagine 4 fae, their power ranking aligning with their number. 1 & 2 are mated because as the most powerful, their children would then also be the most powerful. With Rhys logic, 3 & 4 would be mated. But 3 & 4 child would be much less powerful than a 1 & 3 child, so that mate bond wouldn't produce the most powerful offspring. Of course the mother could just go by pairing the next most powerful people, but we've seen examples where even then that's not what happens. Of course unique combinations of genes could lead to powerful kids without the need of powerful parents, but considering Rhysand's high lord father was mated with an average Illyrian mother, that doesn't always seem to be the case.

Okay so power aside, the other explanation is that the two mates are two equal halves. Sure? I guess? But that seems to be a product of being mated rather than the reason. Rhysand's parents had huge power imbalances and their personalities didn't mesh. Sure, you could be equal without compatible personalities but power and livelihood? I find it hard to believe.

The mating bond is so inconvenient for it to be a reasonable way of getting any offspring produced in the first place. Rhysand and Cassian were both mated to people from the human world, of course those humans came to the fae world so their mating bond lines up with fate. BUT. They went 500 years without a mate just to end up with 20 yr old women as mates? Same thing with Rhysand's parents. A 900 YEAR OLD MAN AND A 19 YEAR OLD WOMAN. WHAT THE FUCK. High fae rarely leave their courts too, and considering everyone supposedly has a mate, most of their mates would be in other courts, whom they'll never meet. The fate argument that works for Feysand and Cassian fails here, because a mating bond being found is so incredibly rare (except for the fact all three archeron sisters found theirs) that it has nothing to do with fate and circumstance.

Nessian. I hate it with my entire heart. Their ENTIRE romance plot was Cassian domesticating Nesta. He consistently abused and ridiculed her, but Oh! They're mates! So it's out of love! Get out. Pack your 50 shades of domestic violence and get out. That man bitch laughed at her as she fell down the stairs, locked her in a house, insulted and made fun of her regularly, and lusted after her emaciated body while she was clearly struggling. He does not give a fuck about Nesta. They were happy at the end! SO WHAT. That doesn't change the way he acted. She kept pushing away his advances and he didn't not care. The same goes for Feysand but I've already discussed them enough.

Considering all of this, I have come to a conclusion!

SJM used the mating bond as an excuse to not have to write compelling romances that actually make sense and instead a fast track to poor fairy porn and her kinks.

#mating bond #acotar #sjmaas #sarah j maas #anti sjm #anti acotar #anti sarah j maas #anti rhysand #anti feysand #anti inner circle #anti nessian #sjm critical

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romanticatheartt · 28 days

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acomaf - ch. 29:

They had never played a piece like it Under the Mountain—never this sort of music. And I’d never heard music in my cell save for that one time. “You,” I breathed, not taking my eyes from the musicians playing so skillfully that even the diners had set down their forks in the cafés nearby. “You sent that music into my cell. Why?” Rhysand’s voice was hoarse. “Because you were breaking. And I couldn’t find another way to save you.” ~ “I saw the Night Court.” He glanced sidelong at me. “I didn’t send those images to you.”

When Rhysand sends music into her cell to stop her from breaking, not only does he save her, but it makes her see the place where she belongs. The place where her mate belongs. He didn't send her those images, but her soul did. The soul which is connected to him. So she subconsciously saw her found family and a life with her mate. In the same scene where they talk about music, we get more confirmation on them being mates.

acosf - ch. 58:

“What is it?” “Touch the top. Just a tap.” Throwing a puzzled glance at him, she did so. Music exploded into the room. Nesta leaped back, a hand at her chest as he laughed. But—music was playing from the silver orb. ~ Those golden threads between their very souls shone with the words, as if they formed a harp strummed by a heavenly hand. For it was music between their souls. Always had been. And his voice was her favorite melody.

Nessian bond is much more connected to music than Feysand. It's mostly because of Nesta's love for music and dancing. So in the same scene when Cassian gifts Nesta the orb, their mating bond also snaps for them. "For it was music between their souls." just like Feysand. Which was the reason Feyre saw those images from NC/Velaris.

acosf - Azriel's bonus chapter:

She angled her head, hair shining like molten metal. "Do you sing?” He blinked. It wasn't every day that people took him by surprise, but…"Why do you ask?" "They call you shadowsinger. Is it because you sing?" “I am a shadowsinger--it's not a title that someone just made.” She shrugged again, irreverently. Az narrowed his eyes, studying her. "Do you, though?" she pressed. "Sing?" Azriel couldn't help his soft chuckle. "Yes." ~ Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.

Gwynriel is going to have even more connection to music since both of them sing. Again Sarah used the same mating bond language she uses for her mated couples. Just like Feysand and Nessian, the exact scene when they talk about music or hear it, there's a mention of their connection between their soul aka mating bond...

Mhmm... I see a pattern here...

#pro gwynriel #gwynriel #pro feysand #feysand #pro nessian #nessian #this is messy #but I had to write it down #People probably mentioned this before lol #But really music is such important element in mating bond language

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starsreminisce · 2 months

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I didn’t intend for this to be so long I apologize in advance😭

Have you or anyone mentioned this before?

What if when Elain and Lucien had their ambiguous meetup in WAR,.. what if Elain wanted to give Lucien a peck or a hug and be in the comfort of her stranger(!) mate and was drawn to him in a way she couldn’t fathom which is why she now keeps clear of him. It’s not hate, it could be confusion. People really exaggerate her being freaked out of the feeling of the bond. It is because SHE IS AWARE of it. We know this, Elain knows this, Lucien knows this, her sisters know this… there’s no need for readers to be all shocked pikachu face about Elain currently not wanting to be around Lucien. Nesta and Feyre or mostly anyone (especially someone like Elain who misses their old life) would’ve reacted similarly. If you’re only seeing the couple/pair and not the individual, isn’t it then harder to figure out what motivates that individual? Elain’s decision-making won’t have to do with someone else, that’s her own thing. What happens after a couple is formed is another thing (i.e. Feyre in TAR and MAF vs Feyre in WAR and SF where she makes plenty of decisions as a unit with Rhys aka when a couple gives into one another fully)

Yk, I can imagine it’s much scarier when you feel a pull to someone while knowing that somehow you both are connected biologically.. and they happen to be someone you just met. Feyre and Nesta were scared too when they found out they had mates! Heck they were a little intimidated when they first met the guys who were going to be their mates (duh they were among scary fae)

I think people tend to forget that Feyre and Nesta also took their time at different points of their own journey and in their relationships to figure out what kind of future they wanted. And they did this while away from their mates (i.e. Feyre accepted the bond before she gave Rhys her heart and body, so a more traditional romance approach, while she was alone at the cabin. And Nesta wanted to keep it strictly physical w/o the bond. Meaning keeping her heart/feelings out of it bc of her low self-worth. The aftermath of her fight w/ Cassian was spent with Emerie and Gwyn).

It’s actually perfect that Lucien is constantly away from Elain right now because otherwise it would all be much harder for her to process the situation she’s in. This exact courtesy given to Feyre and to Nesta by the author (all of this isn’t my thought I know this point has been made a lot!). Again, if we only think in terms of romance and not the individual then it’s going to be harder to understand why a character is making a certain choice

Idk how readers are interpreting these male characters but do they really think these males are they type to be like “we are now bound together, accept the bond or else; you must obey and come with me” I mean, SJM even found a way for Rhys to whisk away Feyre with her consent!

I think SJM likes showing different ways mates end up together and she’ll “select” a couple to demonstrate that. For example, Feysand= mates which one person isn’t aware of the bond because they grew up human, and it snapped for the fae without them revealing it to their mate and etc, etc. Elain and Lucien just happen to be the fated mates who had their bond snapped before they knew who the other was! Honestly SJM could’ve had any of her other couples go through with this. But also maybe there’s a specific reason- which she knows- for why she choose it for Elucien. Maybe it fits their characters best?

Authors are just puppet masters pulling at strings and coming up with possibilities y’all! There’s no need to act like these characters were done dirty because it was designed that way, pls for the love of the Mother. All that means is you have a problem with the story or writing and that’s not gonna change. So maybe it’s best for some people to look for other content?

Anyway- Elain is right now in the series taking the time to figure out what she wants (like her sisters did when they learned of their bonds!!) Maybe SJM could’ve elaborated with Feyre and Nesta and how they considered their options for the future? Lets be fr there’s a few details that SJM leaves out which tends to be important for the readers but not to her (maybe). But anyways the difference with Elain? She’s taking her time to decide and figure out the bond situation outside of her own book. As soon as Elain’s book is out why would she need to be away from Lucien any longer? Feyre had reason to be away from Rhys in MAF.- tamlin, her human life, etc. Nesta wanted to stay away from Cass at the beginning of SF because what even is a mate plus her self-worth issues. Do we wanna see this again with an Archeron in a whole book or rather it happening in the sidelines this time around? I mean with an Elain (Elucien) book they then have to be near each other at some point. NOW their story is beginning. I just expect it to have a happy ending:) <— Elain staying away from Lucien now but not later isn’t an original thought, I know this point has been made by many blogs!! Sooo I think this is what SJM is doing. Keeping them at a distance in the meantime. Because they won’t need it at some point.

It’s going to be different in Elain’s book because who wants a repeat of how Feyre and Nesta dealt with their bonds and their mates! We want some difference in the romance with each couple and how they handle big revelations! Authors love stepping out of their norm and showing variety, surely SJM will do that!

P.S this msg had a lot going on so if there’s anything you’d like clarification for pls feel free to say so :)

It's all good!

If there is one thing that SJM appears to have an issue with regarding fated pairs, it's the idea of instant love that often comes with fated mate tropes. She weaves into her narrative a desire to demonstrate why these pairs are perfect for each other and what her idea of a perfect match looks like.

As Elriel shippers and other non-shippers begin to realize, the bond itself serves as the primary conflict in Elain and Lucien’s story. It's something they both will tackle and eventually come to accept because this bond is now an intrinsic part of them. That's what I personally anticipate and look forward to in their story.

Upon rereading ACOMAF, I found my perspective shifted. Despite Feyre and Rhysand's bond snapping after Under the Mountain, Feyre still entertained thoughts of her upcoming wedding and pondered her future alongside Tamlin, all while feeling guilty and inexplicably drawn to Rhys. It wasn't until spending more time with Rhysand that Feyre began to recognize their shared desire to protect loved ones. This shift in perspective was crucial for Feyre, who grappled with her past actions, including the deaths of innocent faeries, and came to the realization that Rhysand had supported her far more than Tamlin had during her trials.

Rhysand's actions spoke volumes about his commitment to Feyre, even when she was unaware of his feelings. Conversely, it's somewhat frustrating when critics question why Lucien didn't do more for Feyre, especially when ACOMAF emphasizes the unique and profound nature of the mating bond. Lucien's efforts to support Feyre are acknowledged, but it's clear that Rhysand played a significant role in keeping her grounded. Similarly, Lucien's understanding of Elain's needs and his efforts to help her, such as demanding she be exposed to sunlight in ACOWAR, further illustrate the difference of their connection.

While there are limitations to the bond, it's unfair to hold Lucien to the same standard as Rhysand. Lucien and Feyre share a close bond, but they are not mates. Their relationship is distinct from Feyre's bond with Rhysand, which offers a unique level of support and understanding.

Similarly, Lucien demonstrated his understanding of Elain's needs in ACOWAR by demanding she be brought outside to the sun, just as Rhysand knew the music and images of the Night Court would help Feyre.

The passage of time is felt more keenly in Elucien's story compared to Feysand's and Nessian's. Feyre met Rhysand in Calanmai, saw him only once after a month, and then spent much of her time with Rhys Under the Mountain in a drugged state before returning home. It was only after two months that Rhys called in the bargain after Feyre reached out for help.

Nessian isn't exempt from this, either. There were four months between the war and Nesta and Cassian's confrontation, followed by another nine months before Cassian was sent to Nesta's apartment under orders for an intervention.

The difference lies in our experience of Elucien's time apart from each other. They are still included in other's stories, whereas we receive only a brief mention of the time lapse before the start of Feysand's and Nessian's story.

I often wonder if Nesta's and Elain's story drew inspiration from ACOMAF as some sort of "what if" scenario. For instance, what if Rhysand had decided to rescue Feyre himself, considering he kept hearing her vomiting, and that's what ACOSF explores? Or what if Rhysand hadn't winnowed away after their bond snapped after Under the Mountain, but instead blurted out to Feyre, rather than Mor, that she was his mate? Then Feyre went back to the Spring Court knowing she was Rhysand's mate. That is the essence of Elucien's story.

SJM does love to show the variations of the bond snapping. For instance, Kallias and Vivianne's bond snapped after they were married, Miryam was a slave present to Drakon, and Drakon set her free. Miryam had a relationship with Jurian, and while Jurian was seducing Clythia, that's when Miryam's and Drakon's bond snapped. We don't know when Tamlin's parents' bond snapped, but we do know that Rhysand's parents' bond snapped the first time they met, and Rhysand's father did not give his mother the freedom to decide what to do, even after he had saved her.

Elain is the only one among the sisters who knew about the bond firsthand. She knows that whatever she is feeling towards Lucien is a result of that bond. It's interesting to note that both Elain and Lucien, who spent most of their lives suppressing their needs and settling in their environments, have similar experiences. Lucien was severely punished for making waves, whereas Elain grew up with two sisters with big personalities who had no issues rocking the boat. Consequently, Elain does what she can to avoid being a problem. This is where the conflict of the bond comes in - Elain was engaged to someone she loved despite the short amount of time to be told “well, actually, your soulmate is this person. That person who told you that they love you actually hates you because of what you are now.”

This is also the first scenario where Elain actually gets to tell someone what to do. She isn't trying to argue against or support someone. For the first time, Lucien is giving her autonomy for the decision and the space to make it.

I personally believe that SJM was so confident in her match between Elain and Lucien that she mated them almost instantly, pulling back any further conversation beyond their initial discussion. In ACOSF, Cassian and Nesta primarily think of them as a package deal because whenever Elain does something, there's usually a comment about where Lucien is or isn't. It's also extremely telling that their only interaction in the book is with Lucien still looking at her with longing, while Elain acts the opposite towards the only person she cannot hide her real emotions from.

If Elain wouldn't reject the bond in someone else's book, including the novella that includes multiple people, then we should also be asking why Elain would act a certain way towards Lucien, except for the one thing that will absolutely cement that we know she doesn't like him.

It's been two years since it was revealed that Elain and Lucien are mates. The reason why she resisted this long deserves more than a hundred pages (roughly part one) of her book.

#elucien #pro elucien #elain x lucien #asks #pro feysand #feysand #nessian #pro nessian #acotar mating bonds #mating bonds

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princessofmerchants · 2 months

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A Post-HOFAS reading of Nesta Scrying for the Mask in ACOSF

One of my favorite scenes in ACOSF is when Nesta scrys for the Mask.

(HOFAS spoilers after the break)

From the first time I read this amazing scene, I immediately recognized all the callbacks to the scene in ACOWAR when she scryed for the Cauldron during the war against Hybern.

She made no move to close her eyes. “I—am I to … touch it?” “No,” Amren warned. “Just come close. Find it, but do not interact.” Nesta still didn’t move. She could not use the bathtub, she’d told me. Because the memories it dragged up— Cassian said to her, “Nothing can harm you here.” He sucked in a breath, groaning softly, and rose to his feet. Azriel tried to stop him, but Cassian brushed him off and strode for my sister’s side. He braced a hand on the desk when he at last stopped. “Nothing can harm you,” he repeated. Nesta was still looking at him when she finally shut her eyes.

—ACOWAR, ch. 62

Cassian’s warmth seeped into her side, his wings rustling near her back. She let that warmth, the rustle anchor her. He had come to save her from her nightmare, had stayed with her while she slept. Had guarded and fought for her. He would let no harm come to her now. No harm No harm No harm

—ACOSF, ch. 31

Cassian, her mate, is her anchor and way back when she descends into her power and its connection to the Cauldron-Made Mask, just like he was the reason she found the courage to scry for the Cauldron in ACOWAR.

And now, after reading HOFAS, I noticed new details in the ACOSF scrying scene that take on new meaning.

The magic when Nesta scrys resembles that of the Mystics in Midgard. The room gets cold (though in ACOSF Azriel does note with alarm that didn't happen when Nesta scryed for the Cauldron in the war against Hybern—so we are left to wonder what is different this time?). And the person using their power is focusing their magic into a question they need an answer to. Scrying in Prythian seems limited to locational questions, while I think the Mystics are sometimes asked questions that aren't framed as "Where is X?" And yet, the way they find answers seems to be locational too—their minds travel to someplace to seek an answer to the question asked. I have encountered predictions that Elain's Seer power may turn out to work similarly to the Mystics, but from the little we saw of it in action in ACOWAR, I'm no longer convinced the descriptions of how these kinds of magic operate seem to align—Nesta's scrying magic is way more similar, to me anyway.

Cassian's kiss given to Nesta to pull her out of the scrying, because she's used "the essence of the Cauldron" (‼️) to create an impenetrable wall around her mind to protect her loved ones...his kiss reminds me of Bryce and Hunt sharing their powers with each other in HOFAS when they have sex as mates. These scenarios aren't identical per say, but Cassian uses the power in his Siphons to send bites of power into her palm to draw her silver fired attention to him. Then he kisses her, and besides being so 👏🏻 sexy 👏🏻, after the kiss this exchange happens in mindspeak with Rhys:

(Kindle isn't letting me copy/paste anymore text from ACOSF 😏)

Something about Cassian warming the entire room while kissing Nesta to bring her out of the scrying has me thinking "Mate Magic Meld" a la Quinlar (but on a much smaller scale perhaps because they haven't both accepted the bond at this point), which is so freaking cool.

Whether it turns out to be simply a literary parallel or actually pointing to the same magical phenomenon on different scales, either way it's still cool to me, especially given how in both mate relationships, one of them is the anchor for the other to always "come back home" when descending into powerful magic that runs the risk of consuming the wielder. (This is again similar to the Feysand mating bond being Feyre's way back to life—and Rhys—at the end of ACOTAR when she dies.)

I'm sure there are even more amazing details from this Mask scrying scene that will blow our minds someday after we get to read the next ACOTAR book, which is when I expect Nesta's powers that she stole from the Cauldron, then was gifted to keep by the Mother, to be explained to us even more.

But for now I wanted to record what I noticed this time around rereading my favorite book—the mate trope as a romantic trope is cool, but mating bond magic sharing is the coolest. 🥰

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acourtofthought · 10 months

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Love - SJM Style

Obviously the actual falling in love part is amazing but before her characters get to that point, we have a lot of this:

Rowaelin -

You are a child, and a spoiled one at that. And,” he said, those green eyes holding nothing but distaste, “you are a coward.”

And then she said one of the foulest things she’d ever uttered in her life, bathing in the pure hate of it. “Fae like you make me understand the King of Adarlan’s actions a bit more, I think.”

“First thing,” he breathed, “we’re not friends. I’m still training you, and that means you’re still under my command.”

Chaol / Yrene -

You didn’t seem to mind the privileges that came when you snapped your fingers and Kashin ran here. Perhaps he’ll grow tired of you stringing him along.”

“You’d be surprised the people that opiate makes you consider. Who you’ll find yourself willing to sully yourself with.”

“Did she pick Dorian, then? The queen. I’m surprised she could stomach either of you, given your history. What your kingdom did to hers.”

“Yet you were assigned to me because your Healer on High saw otherwise. Saw that no matter how high you climbed in that tower, you’re still that girl in Fenharrow.” A laugh came out of him, icy and bitter. “I knew another woman who lost as much as you. And do you know what she did with it—that loss?” He could barely stop the words from pouring out, could barely think over the roar in his head. “She hunted down the people responsible for it and obliterated them. What the hell have you bothered to do these years?”

Aedion / Lysandra -

She knew Aedion would agree to the plan, even if he still hated her.

“You can go to hell,” Aedion snapped. “You can go to hell, you lying bitch!”

Lorcan / Elide -

Aelin had been brutalized, their very location betrayed by Lorcan to Maeve, and still he tried to follow. Right through the sand still wet with Aelin’s blood.

Elide let out a soft, vicious laugh. “Of course you didn’t. Why would you have intended for your wondrous queen to sever the blood oath?”

Lorcan blinked at the words, the hatred in them, stunned enough that he let her walk past this time. Elide didn’t so much as look back.

“The only thing that I am jealous of, Lorcan, is that she is rid of you.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. But Elide’s face did not warm. “I don’t care,” she said, turning on her heel. “And I don’t care if you walk off that battlefield tomorrow.”

“I have never heard Lorcan apologize for anything. Even when Maeve whipped him for a mistake, he did not apologize to her.” “And that means he earns my forgiveness?”

Quinlar -

“She’s a spoiled party girl. What did you expect?” “She’s not stupid, Hunt,” Isaiah countered. “Everything I’ve seen and heard suggests otherwise.”

His teeth flashed. “I don’t care what you call me, Quinlan, so long as you do what you’re told.” Fucking alphahole. “Immortality is a long time to have a giant stick up your ass.”

Feysand -

Rhysand ran an eye over me. “I knew you liked to stoop low with your lovers, Lucien, but I never thought you’d actually dabble with mortal trash.” My face burned.

Even as he said my most private thoughts, even as I burned with outrage and shame, I trembled at the grip still on my mind.

I stared at him, sending as much hate as I could into my gaze. He’d been the one who’d caused all this. He’d told Amarantha about Clare; he’d made Tamlin beg.

I bared my teeth. “Go. To. Hell.” Swift as lightning, he lashed out, grabbing the shard of bone in my arm and twisting. A scream shattered out of me, ravaging my aching throat. The world flashed black and white and red. I thrashed and writhed, but he kept his grip, twisting the bone a final time before releasing my arm. Panting, half sobbing as the pain reverberated through my body, I found him smirking at me again. I spat in his face.

“Don’t get me started on what you did to me Under the Mountain.”

“I didn’t ask for your approval.”

“I think we can agree that I owe you nothing, and you owe me nothing.”

“I’m not your enemy, Feyre.” “Tamlin says you are.” I curled the fingers of my tattooed hand into a fist. “Everyone else says you are.” “And what do you think?” He leaned back in his chair again, but his face was grave. “You’re doing a damned good job of making me agree with them.”

“No, because it’s so much easier to pretend it never happened and let them coddle you.”

“Luck? Yes, how lucky for you,” I said quietly, but not weakly, “that the rest of Prythian was ravaged while your people, your city, remained safe.”

His laugh was bitter, soft. “I thought so. Perhaps you should take some time to figure that out one of these days.”

“At least I let them see who I am, broken bits and all. Yes—it’s to save your people. But what about the other masks, Rhys? What about letting your friends see your real face? But maybe it’s easier not to. Because what if you did let someone in? And what if they saw everything, and still walked away? Who could blame them—who would want to bother with that sort of mess?”

Nessian -

“What are you looking at?” Cassian’s brows rose—little amusement to be found now. “Someone who let her youngest sister risk her life every day in the woods while she did nothing. Someone who let a fourteen-year-old child go out into that forest, so close to the wall.” “Your sister died—died to save my people. She is willing to do so again to protect you from war. So don’t expect me to sit here with my mouth shut while you sneer at her for a choice she did not get to make—and insult my people in the process.”

“If that’s what a bastard-born Fae warrior can do, no wonder my sister has become so entangled with the High Lords.” Bitch. Bitch for the insult to him and to Feyre. “Did it bother you more that you wanted it, or that it was a bastard-born nobody who made you feel such things, Nesta?” “It’s been a long winter. Beggars can’t be picky, I suppose.”

What did he care? What did he care? He had enough shit to deal with.

“And what do you deserve?” A slow smile, indeed a plains-cat readying for the kill. Then, “Certainly more than a bastard-born nobody.” Bitch. “What a fne partner you are, Nesta. Remind me to bring a book on military strategy the next time. Maybe you’ll stand a chance then.” A cold, fat look. “It’s easier, isn’t it,” Cassian breathed, crossing the distance again, not caring who saw them standing in the bay window “To wield the words and the coldness as armor to keep everyone from seeing where and who you failed and how you did not care until it was too late.”

Only hatred gleamed in her eyes.

“Well, I see it, Nesta Archeron. And all I see is a bored and spoiled girl—”

“Is it Nesta?” “Not everything in my life is about your sister, you know.”

Nesta had made it clear enough she had no interest in Cassian—not even in being in the same room as him.

“I’ve made my thoughts clear enough on what I want from you.”

He didn’t know why the hell he cared. Why he’d bothered.

She’d made it clear enough in those initial days after that last battle that she wanted nothing to do with him.

“I was dragged into this world of yours, this court.” “Then go somewhere else.”

“Stop following me. Stop trying to haul me into your happy little circle. Stop doing all of it.”

“Your sisters love you. I can’t for the life of me understand why, but they do. If you can’t be bothered to try for my happy little circle’s sake, then at least try for them.”

“You think I can’t hear that male in your bedroom, trying to quietly put on his clothes and sneak out the window?”

Elucien are coming along quite nicely -

“You betrayed us.”

Her eyes went frank and cold. “I was to be married in a few days.”

“She wants nothing to do with me.” / And as for here …” He shook off my grip and headed for the door. “I can’t stand to be in the same room as her for more than two minutes.

“You couldn’t say a single word to him? A pleasant greeting?”

“He brought you a present.” Those doe-brown eyes turned toward me. Sharper than I’d ever seen them. “And that entitles him to my time, my affections?”

“Where’s Elain?” “I am not always in this city to see my mate.” The last two words dripped with discomfort.

#elucien #pro elucien #elain archeron #lucien vanserra #feysand #nessian #mating bond #rowan and aelin #elorcan #sarah j mass #elain x lucien #lucien and elain

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chunkypossum · 22 days

Text

WIP Wednesday

Let’s talk @polyacotarweek shall we? Who else is as excited as I am for this event?

I’ve got content for 6/7 days so this week I’ve got editing up to my eyeballs to do.

I think a little snippet of each is in order today…. Yeah?

Under the cut check out what’s coming next week!

Days 1-4: Title TBD - Nesta X Cassian X Eris (4 parts)

Day 1: Beginnings - Nerissian Part 1

“The flight over Velarias at sunset was Cassian’s favorite. The way the gold, pink and purples of the last rays of sunshine washed over the mountains made him feel like he was getting to witness something only reserved for the gods.

Smiling, he looked down at Nesta in his arms as she yawned lightly into the back of her hand.

“Are you getting tired?” He asked her, kissing the side of Nesta’s temple.

“A little. But …” She tightened her grip around his neck and looked out at the sun setting before them. “I’m not quite ready to get to the party. If it’s ok with you, can we stay up here a little longer?”

Cassian’s smile widened and he kissed her temple. “Of course.” He whispered in her hair, kissing the top of her head. The movement lost them a few feet of height in the air but Nesta didn’t bat an eye. Instead, Nesta dropped her head onto his shoulder and sighed contentedly. “

Day 2: Comfort - Nerissian Part 2

The sound of the sea crashing against the cliffside was the only thing keeping Cassian from slowly going insane. No one in the room was speaking, they were just sitting there across from one another, staring. It had been this way for an hour since they had shown up in the little seaside cottage just over the Day Court border from the Night Court.

Ironically it was progress. For the first half an hour Eris kept trying to bolt past the wards so he could winnow away. Every move he made caused an animal instinct to rise up inside of Cassian resulting in a comical amount of growls. It was giving him a headache.

Day 3: secrets -Nerissian Part 3

“You said it yourself. That he might not be so bad after all.” She teased, squeezing his fingers a little harder before letting go.

When he didn’t respond to her teasing, Nesta closed her mouth and waited. If she pushed him, Cassian would get flustered and end up saying things he didn’t mean. She wanted this to be productive. The tightening bond in her chest needed it to be productive.

Unable to look at her, Cassian focused on his breathing. He was a few minutes into slow, even breaths before he spoke.

“I do feel shame about everyone else finding out.”

Day 4: Adventure - Nerissian Part 4

Now less of a burden than before, Nesta had found herself relying on the strength she found in their growing bond. She still sent pieces of her day to both males and had to hold back her giddiness when one or both of them deigned to send something back. She was making progress and so proud of herself.

Keep holding out your hand.

It was the thought that carried her from day to day. Even if she was too embarrassed to say it out loud, somehow, she could tell Cassian knew.

Though the growth of the bonds were ultimately a good thing, they chafed terribly at the worst times causing their family to continue to cast them suspicious glares at dinner or other outings. Even though Cassian seemed to have gotten ahold of himself and kept their secret locked up tight, he was still going to be the first to crack if his brothers, or cauldron forbid, Feyre, got him one on one with the intent to interrogate him.

Day 5: favorite tropes - Azris Nessian X Neris Polycule

- Wedding date + a little bit of Jealousy

“What do you want?” Nesta demanded, sneering instead. “My date is waiting on me.”

Cassian scoffed, looking back out towards the party. “Your date. Why did you come with him Nes?”

Inspecting her fingernail, Nesta replied casually. “Why not?”

“Was it just to ppiss me off?” He nearly growled, clearly trying to keep his temper even.

“Not everything I do is with you in mind, prick. In fact, very little of my day to day revolves around you at all.” Her nose went up in the air and she too, looked back out at the party, waiting to see how her blow landed.

“So some of your day still does?” He asked quietly, taking a step closer and brushing his fingers through the tiny hairs at her nape. Nesta shivered at the unexpected touch. The vulnerability in his voice was nearly too much for her.

Day 7: Free Day - Azris + Eris x OC

Eris sighed. - “It’s obvious that in your heart, you want change to take place and you want to be a part of that change. How can you do so when each visit leaves you in shambles? It took you hours to calm down this time. You didn’t even know where you were for most of it.” With seemingly great effort, Eris peeled his eyes away fro mthe window to look at Azriel directly.

“I know.” Azriel admitted quietly. “But…” He couldn’t finish, his thoughts were so jumbled.

“Let the General and his mate handle Illyria. They are doing enough good there from what I hear that you can put your talents to use elsewhere. You can still do good in the world, in a way that you choose. In a way that won’t damage you to the point of no return. What good is a free Illyria if it kills you in the process?”

“It’s not about me.”

“Maybe it should be.”

Azriel’s head shot up, his brows bunched in confusion as he looked at Eris who was back to looking out the window.

“What are you talking about?”

“Might I make a proposal?” Eris asked, more timid than Azriel had ever heard him. It made his heart stop briefly before it picked back up in high gear. “Come work for me for a while longer. Your methods were effective and you seemed to find the work fulfilling. But if you don’t want-”

“Yes.” Azriel cut him off, answering without thinking. “I’ll do it.” His breath was hot in his lungs as he accepted Eris’ offer. The smile on the other males face felt a bit like coming home.

And some shit line art I’m doing in between to procrastinate editing lol

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