“Cassian extended a wrapped hand, his fingers curling in a comehither motion. “Scared?” “Why should I be scared of an oversized bat who likes to throw temper tantrums?”” - Chapter 19, page 203, ACOWAR
Here’s the final drawing of this scene from acowar. This scene never fails to make me laugh love nessian’s banter
Let me know in the comments what your favourite scene from ACOSF is (nessian or non-nessian) and would like me to draw. Looking for ideas ☺️
For anyone that’s interested, here’s my goodreads review of ACOSF. I made this the day after reading it, so my thoughts and opinions have been further cemented, but unfortunately I ran out of space to write anymore to it with evidence. Maybe I’ll write a longer review here ♀️ (depends if I can be bothered wasting more energy and head space on acotar )
See, I hated ACOSF because, to me, it wasn’t a story of healing - it was a story of a woman who is slowly brainwashed by her abusers into thinking that she is actually the abuser. She is controlled at the beginning, straight up threatened and manipulated, then slowly her thoughts are twisted into thinking that these people controlling her life know best. Instead of breaking free of these people - she falls further under their control. And she feels happy about it, and grateful to these people, because she believes no one else will accept her. It’s classic abusive tactics. And all of them do that (maybe with the exception of Feyre but Rhys and Armen definitely and in many cases Cassian (which breaks my nessian loving heart)). Don’t believe me, I can pull up receipts (I went through and pulled out every example in the text and the other acotar books) ♀️
Not to be dramatic, but I’ve lost all motivation to draw nessian or anything acotar related. I hated acosf with everything in my being, for so many reasons that I can’t put it all into words yet
Emerie because she’s amazing and deserves all the love I’m glad I finally found the time to finish this piece. This was one of my favourite scenes because we really got to see Emerie and Nesta bond.
“The light female’s voice had Nesta twisting around, stiffening as she found a priestess in the robes of an acolyte standing between the two nearest shelves. Her hood was thrown back, and faelight danced in the rich coppery chestnut of her pin-straight hair.”
Here is my drawing of Gwyn because I absolutely loved her. I’m not gonna lie, I definitely struggled with this because it wasn’t turning out the way I imagined and I really wanted to capture her spirit. But I’m proud of the end result and I hope you like it :)
I just realized that I made you love Gwynriel in some way even before the book’s official release and I can’t help but patting on my back ‘CAUSE I DID GOD’S WORK. THEY DESERVE THE HYPE.
And I’m happy you loved them.
(Also, THANK YOU FOR STILL LOVING THAT PLAYLIST. IT MAKES ME REALLY HAPPY)
1. I personally thought Nesta’s redemption arc was BEAUTIFUL. I’m so happy she finally found her own friends/family and she overcame her fears and became a better person all together
2. I did not really like her and Cassian’s relationship thingy. Mostly because they were just having sex 75% of the time. And it felt a little bit all over the place. But honestly the mating part at the end was adorable and I fw that. PLUS the thought that Cassian and Nesta will have their own family is ADORABLE
3.Wtf was this plot? It confused me so much. But of course the book was supposed to be about Nesta’s improvement which makes sense
4. The sex scenes were ummmm… I get why Sarah said this would be her dirtiest book
5. I LOVED all the Feysand scenes. I cried so hard at the end when everyone thought Feyre would die. But the icing on the cake was when Rhys had got on his knees to thank her and Nesta got on her knees and gave him a hug
6. the one that made me explode: WTF IS RHYS’S LAST NAME?!!! they mention it in the bonus feysand chapter but THEY NEVER SAID WHAT IT WAS.
But anyways i absolutely loved the book like all SJM books.
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That’s all my brain can think about rn. If there’s more to rant maybe I’ll make a part two
They’re yet to accept the bond but it’s arguably the strongest I’ve read about in the ACOTAR universe.
He declared her his mate the moment they looked into each other’s eyes.
I know there is an assumption that Elain’s turning Fey initiated the mating bond but how do we know that for certain. This was the first time they were both in the same room as each other and Lucien acknowledged the bond the first time he looked into her eyes. What’s to say this wouldn’t have happened regardless of Elain being changed fey. We can’t know because Elain’s changing was also the first time she’d ever met Lucien.
He was able to break the kings restraints to walk to Elain. No one else in the room was strong enough to do this except Lucien and when he broke the restraints Tamlin looked shocked as to how he could. Does this mean his bond to Elain is stronger than two high lords power? Because that’s a VERY strong bond…
Elain can feel the mating bond between her and Lucien to. She can hear his heart beating and when Lucien tugged on the bond she felt a tugging feeling around her heart. She might not understand the mating bond or even agree with it but she hasn’t denied feeling the bond.
I can understand the mating bond being wrong/faulty and I can understand the mating bond being rejected.
What I can’t understand is the mating bond being rejected when both sides are feeling such strong effects of it.
The strength of the bond has obviously caused Elain to avoid Lucien to the point where she refuses to get to know him and find out if she even likes him as a friend.
I wonder how Lucien and Elain would have reacted to one another if the mating bond didn’t exist or if Lucien hadn’t said they were mates. If Elain hadn’t felt forced toward Lucien would they actually be friends?
Rhys didn’t tell Feyre they were mates because he didn’t think she was ready to know. What might have happened if he’d declared them mates under the mountain after Feyre was changed fey? Would she have reacted like Elain has to Lucien? Would she have felt scared and stayed in the spring court with Tamlin?
How would Nesta reacted if Cassian had told her they were mates pre ACOSF?
With Elain’s Trauma and inexperience with the fey all the mating bond has done so far is create a wall between the two.
She refuses to get to close to Lucien because of the bond.
I personally think that Lucien and Elain’s bond is so strong it’s actually scared Elain from getting to know Lucien therefore causing any possible relationship between them to stall for however long it takes Elain to stop fearing/ resenting the bond.
Even Lucien was rattled by the fact he feels a stronger connection to Elain than his late wife and he was born fey.
If the bond didn’t exist between Lucien and Elain would Elain have visited the Spring Court? Or has the mating bond restricted her to the Night Court?
Despite her rebelling against the mating bond she still allows him to come visit on holidays and hasn’t rejected the bond.
I hear people saying if they were canon there relationship would have progressed more by now but how can they have any progression until Elain stops avoiding Lucien? There relationship can only evolve when Elain finally talks to Lucien.
Feyre is literally “damned if she did and damned if she didn’t” with the whole nesta situation in this fandom. People would rather she just sit and let her sister drink and fuck herself to death because pulling her out and staging an intervention took away her choices. Because lets be honest if feyre just took the money away and left her for dead, It would be a problem. If she went in and got her out like she did, It’s a problem. If she asked her, beg, let Amren do it like she did, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING this fandom would’ve had an issue with. The house, Cassian, Emerie, Gwyn, her life would not be here if feyre didn’t get her out. Nesta was a path to complete distruction and her sister, like shes done since she was 14 YEARS OLD, didn’t want to see her die.
Sorry feyre didn’t have a handbook on this situation. This is not something she had time to practice or understand. She did the first thing that came natural to her and that was helping as soon and as fast as possible once she realized that giving her space wasn’t working and as long as nesta was safe and not dead, it was an act of love. Its seem as everyone can make mistakes until feyre does something. Nesta is a grown woman not a child, she continued to call feyre every name in the damn book and even slut shamed her in acotar, she can handle a few words from the inner circle. Hell, Where is the same energy for her? She told Feyre herself that she would slit her throat but y’all are crossing the line at Amren, Mor, and Rhysand. They just don’t have to like her and she don’t have to like them. Feyre isn’t perfect but this narrative that she is somehow the villain and shouldn’t have helped nesta is absolutely ridiculous. In acosf it’s shown over and over dramatically and unnecessarily at this point, that she cares for nesta, she literally is frustrated and her and cassian have a conversation themselves about what needs to happen to help. I don’t know what else people wanted Feyre to do. But she did what she thought was right to help her sister and obviously it worked. Thank you Feyre Archeron.
I think a lot of people are poorly misunderstanding Rhys’ question to Az about deserving Elain here. It really bothers me that people started to freak out about Rhys and Az’s dynamic after (mis)reading this one conversation. There seems to be a couple of issues causing the confusion:
Interpreting the words
Context
The first half of all the confusion seems to be a problem of language. Sarah might’ve chosen a less ambiguous word here but, alas, here we are.
So.
Deserve: to have earned or to be given something because of the way you have behaved or the qualities you have. (Cambridge Dictionary)
Deserve: do something or have or show qualities worthy of (a reaction which rewards or punishes as appropriate). (Oxford Dictionary)
Obviously both these definitions are different and you can probably see where this is going.
In the same vein, two synonymous phrases to ‘deserve’ are ‘to be entitled to’and‘to be worthy of’. We see that the word can be used to describe either of those attitudes. For the latter, Rhys asking Az if he actually believes he’s worthy of Elain would be so, so bad - and also completely and ridiculously out of character. Rhys constantly talks about how much it hurts him to see Az (and Cassian) believe that he’s a worthless bastard and even expresses this to Feyre on multiple occasions. So for him to to turn around and imply that Az wasn’t worthy of Elain would be so uncharacteristic of Rhys’ personality. But Rhys asking Az if he thinks he’s entitled to Elain’s affection makes much more sense in this context - and also how we’d expect Rhys to respond to Az’s words just before this question: “What if the Cauldron was wrong?… The Cauldron chose three sisters. Tell me how it’s possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, yet the third was given to another.” To which Rhys responds: “You believe you deserve to be her mate?” The context of the conversation makes it obvious that Rhys is freaked out because it sounds like Az feels he’s entitled to the third sister because of some sort of Cauldron-math - not the possibility that Elain herself might choose Az. Azriel never even mentions considering Elain’s choice in this whole conversation, even if he might have thought about it privately. So it seems obvious where Rhys’ line of thought would go, what he would be concerned about. He was obviously making a point about how fucked up it would be if Az were to think he deserves Elain as if she were an object. Like one would deserve a trophy or prize. As if Elain’s affection is EXPECTED to be directed at Az by the Cauldron/fate because HE thinks so. That he is somehow entitled to Elain.
Bear in mind that Rhys is a male who’s obsessed with choice (because his own was taken away) and who himself didn’t ever allow himself to believe that he was entitled to his own mate’s love. There are plenty of men who believe themselves entitled to a woman for all sorts of reasons - so it’s not a stretch that Rhys would be disturbed to hear something that sounds similar to entitlement in Az’s words. Especially since it’s obvious that Az is in a dark place (not sleeping, sad eyes, standing in the doorway throughout Solstice celebrations) and Rhys has obviously noted this. People can try to justify all sorts of attitudes when they’re in such a dark place (See: Nesta).
All this context is important to this conversation, guys!
“And in its center, a massive, working model of their world, the stars and planets around it, and some other fancy things that had been explained to Cassian once before he deemed them boring and proceeded to ignore them completely. 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 beyond their own world and other things Cassian had, again, instantly forgotten.”
AHAHAHAHA Poor Cass having to put up with these nerds! If Rhys Cass and Az had a sitcom it would be called Two Nerds and a Jock
I love the “Az, of course, had been fascinated” like OF COURSEAz the big ass nerd was fascinated
Here is the first chapter of my Azriel x Eris fanfic! It was supposed to be a one-shot, but it quickly got a life of his own… so get ready for a kinda-slowburn-but-only-at-feelings fic!
Also, this chaper was beta’d by @stars-and-scripts (Who I like to think as my partner in crime), with comments and input from @inejjgand@qamariana as well (Thank you so much!)
Sooo here we go!
The first chapters occur during ACOSF, then the plot moves on.
✬
Summary:
The Courtier and The Spymaster, a son of fire and a son of shadows, a male who thrives in secrets whispered at glimmering ballrooms and another one who finds them under the edge of his knife. Both wear masks, the males beneath them unknown to the other.
Azriel has spent centuries plagued by the memory of Mor’s wounded body at the Autumn’s Court border, his hate for Eris only growing stronger with each one of his visits. Now, after rescuing him from the influence of the Crown there seems to be a tentative peace between the Inner Circle and their ally in the Autumn Court- a peace still threatened by the secrets between both Courts. So when Eris appears at the House of Wind’s doorsteps asking for help, Azriel sees the perfect opportunity to discover more about the red-haired male and his true motives… as well as his role in the shadowsinger’s own present and past.
CHAPTER I
Azriel’s POV
Azriel was seething.
One of his shadows curled over his shoulders, whispering into his ear that Cassian hadn’t taken his eyes off from the dancing couple since the moment the music started. His shoulders had stiffened. Take care.
The Shadowsinger clenched his jaw, a rush of memory blurring his eyes for a second. He could understand his brother, the line of tension climbing up his spine and making his wings lift and hold steady- his silhouette bigger, more intimidating. He could understand the twisting in his gut at seeing Eris- that scheming, worthless male- touching his beloved, his mate, in such an intimate way. The autumn male was currently dancing in the center of the room, one hand clasped on Nesta’s and the other one caressing her back, chasing the skin left exposed by the lines of her dress. Both dancers were encased by the music, framed by both sound and the fluttering black fabric of their clothes. One twirl and their eyes crossed, reflecting each other’s golden and silver fire. Not even five minutes before he had been looking that very same way at both sisters, his eyes gliding over Nesta’s indifference and instead assessing Elain, who had tried to create a front of interest after Feyre’s cautious coaching the previous day.
Azriel had been unable to shake the image from his head since then.
Heyyyyy, buckle down kids because this is going to be another long one, it is as usual a jumble of thoughts and opinions but I have tried to organise it into the following categories;
Mor & Elain
Nesta & Azriel
Wings & Embers + ACOFAS vs. Bonus POV
Rhys, Cass & Az
Azriel (Which will be broken down in to several subcategories, personality, storytelling, plot, gwynriel.)
As usual, these are just my opinions on the matters at hand, you don’t have to agree with them. I am just enjoying breaking down Sarah’s writing and looking beyond the surface for the deeper meaning, she loves to leave as an undercurrent to her stories.
As always will be tagging “Anti” if anything is and it is under a read more, so if you are a fan of the opposing ship you should be able to avoid it easily and go on your merry way.
How in the hell can I get me eyes on the Azriel POV from ACOSF?? For the love of god! I have to know what happened and why people are freaking the fuck out!?!
And by the way, ACOSF was fabulous- not outstanding. With that said, Cassian and Nesta though, imperfectly perfect.
I found the Az POV. I didn’t hate it. Rhys - what the hell? I have no idea where she’s going with the next book, but it sure as shit is about Az. I have no clue where she’s going to go with it, and I bet she doesn’t either. Still going to read it.
