Book Recs Nobody Asked For PART 2 (contemp Ver.)

Xaden yelling "WELL THE FUCK AWARE" at Violet is honestly so funny to me. Like that is PEAK exasperated husband energy.

Idc what you think, I want Elriel to fight after the solstice scene. I want Elain to be even more mad because he ignored her. I want them to act like nothing happened in the beginning and then Az confronts her for whatever reason and I want her to be “oh I thought we were acting like it never happened, since you ignored me all this time”. And I want him to be like “I just think that you misinterpreted what happened and i think we should talk”. And then her to be like “oh now you want to talk? Ok.” And sbam. Gets mad, tells him everything she’s thinking with no filters whatsoever, throws flowers at him. Everything without crying at all, while Az is standing there like “oh shit”.

I mean my girl has been rejected too many times and ignoring her for months after that makes it even worse. Plus she’s always elegant and formal, even when she fights with Nesta. I want her to be like “fuck all of this, I deserve good things”.

im not even gonna-- im just gonna say my mouth was open the entire time i was reading this and i cant deal with anymore of this sjmmmmm 💀

HOSAB Spoilers

While I'm reluctant to make too many claims about what House of Sky and Breath might tell us about upcoming books in the ACOTAR series, I think it does make one thing clear: Azriel's book is next.

Let's start with the obvious. Azriel is the one who finds Bryce (HOSAB, 793), and he's the one who wields Truth Teller, the twin weapon to the Starsword (HOSAB, 796).

Anyone who could winnow or fly could have found Bryce at the end of HOSAB. We would have recognized Cassian about as quickly as Azriel, and can you imagine if Feyre had be the one to find her? I don't think that with this moment, SJM was going for the fan screams. I think she was foreshadowing, and I think it's likely that Azriel was uniquely able to detect Bryce's presence, which could have enormous implications.

I know that Nesta will likely be an important character in this arc because of her ability to locate objects Made by the Cauldron, but it's notable that she isn't highlighted in the final chapter of HOSAB. Her powers will come into play, but perhaps they're not central.

Moving on to Truth Teller, we know from House of Earth and Blood that the Starsword needs to be reunited with its twin knife (HOEAB, 458) in order to reunite the Fae. This might mean the meeting at the end of HOSAB, or it could mean more, particularly if Bryce needs to take Truth Teller back with her to Midgard. It could mean that Azriel has to travel with Bryce, or it could mean that Bryce just needs to take the knife with her. If she takes the knife, though, she will likely need to bring it back... especially since it's Azriel's, and this is a character who sleeps with a dagger under his pillow. Either way, this involvement is going to have some impact on his arc. At minimum, Azriel somehow got this very special blade in his possession. It marks him in some way. But it could mean even more.

After all, Bryce has to travel through worlds sometime in the course of the next book, whether to Hel, Midgard, or back to another planet. What we don't know is whether she will go there alone. While any ACOTAR character who can winnow seems like a potential candidate for traveling with Bryce, assuming that that power can link up with the Horn, Azriel seems the likeliest because, as Nesta and Cassian point out in ACOSF, his ability to winnow is different from that of the other characters:

"Illyrians do possess magic on one night a year, though: the night before the Blood Rite, when the war-band leaders can winnow the drugged novices into the wilds. Don't even ask me why that is. No one knows." "Azriel can winnow all the time, though." "Az is different. In a lot of ways." His tone didn't invite further questioning. (ACOSF, 191)

Is it possible that his unique method of winnowing, which, based on ACOMAF (240) and ACOSF (349), seems to be tied to being a shadowsinger rather than the usual winnowing power in Prythian, could make him an ideal candidate to travel with Bryce, with her connection to the Avallen fae?

In terms of knowledge and motivation, there are only a few characters in ACOTAR who seem particularly interested in other worlds: Rhys, Amren, Merrill, Gwyn, and Azriel. Cassian points out Rhys' and Azriel's interest early on in ACOSF (37), Amren has a vested interest and firsthand knowledge of other worlds, and Gwyn is helping Merrill research her theories of other worlds (154). I think it's reasonable to assume that these characters are going to be important during the Bryce-in-Prythian arc.

Incidentally, I also think that this is another subtle hint that Azriel and Gwyn are going to be drawn together more in the next ACOTAR books... but let's assume that happens in ACOTAR5, not in what I think will be Bryce's relatively short stint in Prythian.

Finally, in ACOSF, we see Azriel's "shadows curled around him, snakes ready to strike" (101). In HOSAB, SJM describe's Ruhn's shadows in a similar fashion, writing that, "His shadows swirled up his left arm like twining snakes" (57). Not only are their powers similar (though Azriel's abilities are more like Cormac's with the shadows + winnowing and no daemati abilities), but SJM uses the same metaphor to describe them. She wants us to see this.

While Bryce directly compares Ruhn and Rhys, we know that Rhys' arc in ACOTAR is more or less complete. He also has the bargain with Feyre that leaves him vulnerable, making him a bad candidate to go to other worlds or lead an army. Azriel, meanwhile, feels more disconnected from the Inner Circle (see: his bonus chapter in ACOSF; there are no page numbers, alas!) and, as spymaster and Carynthian, is able to gather information while being an active warrior. There are a lot of possibilities for what he could do! Even if it's just passing along information while he hands Bryce Truth Teller.

In terms of other similarities, this is how Bryce describes Azriel's wings: "Great, black wings. A demon's wings." (793) This evokes Hunt's description of Apollion's wings: "Wings rustled nearby -- not the soft feathers of his wings, but something leathery. Dry." (237)

We know that Bryce needs to go to Hel, and we know now that Hel is not a literal hell but rather another world (758). The comparison between Apollion's wings and Azriel's/the Illyrian's isn't an accident. Since we are likely going to see Hel in CC3, this similarity is likely to be important.

Given all the mysteries that swirl around Azriel, his possession of Truth Teller, his interest in other worlds, and his connections to some pivotal characters in HOSAB, it seems really likely that CC3 is going to set up his arc in ACOTAR5. As SJM once said... it seems pretty obvious.

Of Talons and Light | ACOTAR Fanfiction

Chapter Five

It was about as close to winnowing as chopping off one’s hand was to clipping a hangnail. The black noise dissipated gradually, and Feyre found herself hunched on the ground, gasping and trembling and doing her best not to vomit onto the gleaming marble biting into her knees and palms. She heard Nesta nearby in much the same condition.

Their ragged breaths echoed off the glossy smooth walls and floors and pillars, all just planes of white in her periphery as she drew her focus inward. On not being sick. On staying whole. The jasmine-scented breeze helped, cooling her face and calming her stomach. An eternity later, the shaking stopped. Her battering pulse slowed, and her vision cleared. As Feyre finally lifted her face to take in their surroundings, she nearly cried.

The Moonstone Palace. They’d made it.

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I posted 75 times in 2021

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#my fangirl brain is still not over the fact that acotars gonna be a tv show

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

ToG spoiler alert

I do not accept the fact that Aelin lost her powers forging the lock and banishing the Gods. As far as I’m concerned, Aelin still has her full powers. Humph. 

65 notes • Posted 2021-03-25 11:51:54 GMT

#4

Am I the only person that ships The Darkling with Alina?

68 notes • Posted 2021-04-01 16:58:39 GMT

#3

"Arobynn once told me that second place was just a nice name for first loser."

-Celaena Sardothien

75 notes • Posted 2021-04-01 17:06:34 GMT

#2

"She wasn't fated for anything. Not anymore. "

-Throne of Glass, Chapter 6

it hits differently when you're rereading

bye i'll just go sob in a corner y'all

127 notes • Posted 2021-06-21 02:21:32 GMT

#1

Friendly Reminder:

We all loved Maven at some point

179 notes • Posted 2021-06-09 10:20:34 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

Helping Taylor With Her Set list as if she doesn't already have more professional people helping her

@taylorswift @taylornation whoever is doing this job i admire you and i feel so bad for you

Debut:

Picture to burn/Teardrops on my guitar

Our song/The Outside

Fearless

Fearless/Mr Perfectly Fine/Love story

You belong with me/The way I loved you/forever and always

Red

State of grace/Red/Treacherous/I knew you were trouble

ALL TOO WELL

Sad beautiful tragic/the lucky one/Begin again/ Ronan (underrated fr)

Speak now

Speak now/Mean 

Enchanted/ Dear John/The story of us/Haunted

LONG LIVE!!

1989

Shake it off/blank space

Style/out of the woods/Wildest dream

This love/Clean/New Romantics 

Reputation

Ready for it/Call it what you want/Don’t blame me/ dancing with our hands tied

Delicate (confirmed)

Getaway car/ king of my heart/Dress/Gorgeous

Lover

Cruel summer

Lover/The man/ ME!

The archer/ daylight

Paper rings/ Cornelia street/London boy/Afterglow

Folklore

Cardigan/august/Exile/My tears ricochet

Mirrorball/seven (IM BETTING ITS ON THERE)

This is me trying/illicit affairs

Betty/mad woman/hoax/The lakes

Evermore (if Taylor forgets evermore during tour I will cry.)

Willow/Champagne problems

Gold rush/ ’Tis the damn season/Tolerate it/No body no crime

Coney Island/ivy/Evermore/Right where you left me

Midnights

Lavender haze (pretty much confirmed)

Anti hero (pretty much confirmed)

midnight rain/Maroon/mastermind/Question/vigilante shit/Bejeweled/karma

You’re on your own kid/Would’ve couldve should’ve 

Sweet nothing/the Great War/ Paris /high infidelity

agreed lidia and ruhn supremacy but how come no one talks about Danika and Baxian 😭

LIDIA CERVOS & RUHN DANAAN House of Sky and Breath | Sarah J Maas

You’re Anti-95% of ACOTAR characters. Isn’t that exhausting? Read another book. Go sit outside. Get some fresh air. It’s okay, they’re not real.

john green on tumblr appreciation post

swiftie green