#acosf reread

[nestastits]

I love how Nesta intentionally pissed off Clotho to the point of her sending cassian to tell her to stop training in the library, but Nesta purposely messed up throwing a punch so cassian would correct her form bc she wanted all of the priestesses to see there was nothing to fear about training.

And it was this action that made the priestesses start signing up to train. Her trauma may be different from theirs but she connected with them in a way others could not, she was an example of courage and resilience in many of the priestesses lives that allowed them to start their own healing journey and reconnect with the outside world.

Nesta you will always be special in the lives of many 🥹

[charityreadsabookanddrinkswine]

I wonder if the kelpie in crescent city is the same one in acosf?

[princessofmerchants]

Just a reminder that Cassian lends Nesta, the consummate book lover, his favorite book, The Dance of Battle. And Nesta proceeds to inhale it and later discuss it with him, along with reading more books like it, when she realizes its subject is a common interest of hers too.

That alongside the sex and the training, these two also became friends.

(And you know the moment Nesta realized Cass left his personal copy of that book for her, some part of her was a goner, even if she did try to deny it for a while longer, bless her.)

[acomaflove]

Sarah J. Maas Meeting with her Publisher

SJM: The ACOTAR series is going to be a fairy-tale retelling about faeries, war, and overcoming trauma.

Publisher: LOVE IT. Anything else?

SJM: Yeah, I’ll do several sequel books about side characters that will still include battles and magic.

Publisher: PERFECT! Sounds like a plan.

SJM: WAIT! In the middle, I want to post a short novella story.

Publisher: Oh cool, like a post-war transition into the sequel books?

SJM: No. Like bunch of cutesy christmas romance short stories. Just for funsies.

Publisher:

Publisher:

Publisher: Okay………weird pivot but we’ll roll with it.

[helion-ism]

rhys

“Sit down,” Rhys snarled. The raw command in that voice, the utter dominance and power … Nesta froze, fighting it, hating that Fae part of her that bowed to such things.

lucien

you know it’s giving future high lord …

[gwandas]

SJM saying she wrote ACOSF at the lowest point in her life yeah we can tell

[romanticatheartt]

Gwyneth and Rhysand

Having the same traumas:

Both being victim of SA

Rhys said quietly, “I was a prisoner in her court for nearly fifty years. I was tortured and beaten and fucked until only telling myself who I was, what I had to protect, kept me from trying to find a way to end it. Please—help me keep that from happening again. To Prythian.” ~ acomaf ch.11 “I hadn’t yet participated in the Great Rite, and we were so remote up there that I never had the chance to lie with a male, and he took that from me, too. And then he called over three of his soldiers and told them to keep going until I revealed where the children had gone.” ~ acosf ch.68

Losing their sisters in the most brutal way

“... I was supposed to be there. I wasn’t. And they slaughtered my mother and sister anyway.”... “It should have been me,”... “They put their heads in boxes and sent them down the river—to the nearest camp. Tamlin’s father kept their wings as trophies. I’m surprised you didn’t see them pinned in the study.” ~ acomaf ch.45 “... So he grabbed Catrin, because our scents were nearly identical, you see, and told me that if I didn’t reveal where the children were, he’d kill her. And when I didn’t give the children up …” Her mouth shook. “He beheaded Catrin right there, along with two other priestesses...” ~ acosf ch.68

Having the same blood rite experience:

He could still feel the crumbling rock beneath his boots, hear the rasp of his breathing as he half hauled Rhys up the slopes, Azriel providing cover behind.* ~ acofas ch.3 Nesta marveled at the hope and bravery in their faces. “I can hold them off.” *... She didn’t wait for Emerie to speak before she helped ease Gwyn onto Emerie’s back, the latter hissing at the weight upon her wings, splaying them at awkward angles. ~ acosf ch.69

They won the blood rite and have the Carynthian title. And I wonder if Rhys at any stage of his life thought he's not a real Carynthian because Cassian had to help him and if Gwyn also might feel the same. And maybe they can bond over it...

Being pretty AF:

Standing before me was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. ~ acotar ch.20 If Rhysand was the most beautiful male I’d ever seen, she [Mor] was his female equivalent. ~ acomaf ch.6 The priestess had 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. ~ acosf ch.29

2+2=?

Nerds...

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. ~ acosf ch.3 “I could only pick up every other word,” Rhys said. Feyre arched a brow. “You speak the language of the ancient Fae?” Rhys shrugged. “My education was thorough.” He waved an idle, graceful hand. “For exactly these situations.” ~ acosf ch.37 “Some philosophers believe there are eleven worlds like that. And some believe there are as many as twenty-six, the last one being Time itself, which …” Gwyn’s voice dropped to a whisper. ~ acosf ch.13 Gwyn let out a breathy laugh. “I mean it. I learned about a new Valkyrie technique last night. It’s called Mind-Stilling.” ~ acosf ch.38

This has nothing to do with their similarity but him being cute and protective<33

The casual smile of a male used to people either fleeing in terror or falling to their knees in worship. “Hello, Gwyn,” he said warmly. “Good to see you again.” Gwyn blushed, shaking herself out of her stupor, and bowed low. “My lord.”... You are to treat Gwyn with kindness and respect. ~ acosf ch.28

*Bonus*:

Gwyn and Rhys were injured and had to be carried to the top while Nesta and Azriel stayed behind to cover for them.

Nesta 🤝 Azriel -> we expected them to have a strong friendship and it happened in hofas. They also have so many similarities!

Gwyn 🤝 Rhys -> ...?

[venusin-aries]

Gwyn smiling at Azriel’s shadows and them darting forward to dance with her breath like a puppy that has been waiting to be acknowledged for a long time? Singing after her? Dancing when she challenged him?

They aren’t afraid of being seen by her, they want to be seen by her if anything, and you’re gonna try and tell me that means nothing good for him??

Azriel witnessed Gwyn at her lowest moment in her life and Gwyn witnessed the brutality Azriel is capable of the literal second they met. Gwyn wasn’t afraid of him after and Azriel literally had a hand in her getting stronger. There is nowhere for those two to go but up.

I’ve literally seen people argue that it would be too easy for them to get together and LMAO WHERE?? That’s bullshit. Those two have healing journeys they need to embark on. And it wouldn’t be easy, but it would be beautiful and so much better than the “forbidden love” trope bullshit. Even if they aren’t mates (which I suspect they are because, come on, SJM couldn’t be more obvious with her hint dropping abdjdjd) Azriel literally has no reason not to choose Gwyn, be for real. I suspect Gwynriel is endgame, but if they aren’t by some fuckery then SJM missed biiig time.

[ataraxiaaaaaaa]

I HATE THAT AT THE END OF THE FUCKING DAY I WANT NESSIAN TO WORK OUT😔

[nestastits]

Cassian payed so much attention to Nesta, that he named over a dozen of the faces she’d make and had a personal favorite too. Nesta payed so much attention to cassian that she named all the different various positions he’d put his wings into and what it meant when he would do it. (They’ve been doing this since acomaf)

And you’re telling me these two aren’t made for one another????

[yazthebookish]

"Az carried Elain bridal style"

She was unresponsive in his arms.

[princessofmerchants]

Nesta rolled her eyes and the gesture was so normal that Cassian's smile became more genuine, edged now with relief.

You wear your heart for all to see, brother, Rhys said without turning Cassian's way.

Cassian only shrugged. He was past caring.

—ACOSF, ch. 37

[roselensedeyes]

the tension between feyre and rhys, nesta and cassian, and elain and azriel before they get together makes me go insane

[helion-ism]

Elain in black was ridiculous. Yes, she was beautiful, but the color of her longa-sleeved, modest gown leeched the brightness from her face. It wore her, rather than the other way around. And he knew the cruelty of the Hewn City troubled her. But she hadn’t hesitated to come. […] He’d never once in the two years he’d known her found Elain to be plain, but wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court … It sucked the life from her.

[blodgmonster]

Thoughts while rereading ACOSF. The first half of the book so that my post isn't a novel in itself.

-- Nesta falls into one of my favorite categories of female characters. Spiky, hurt, hiding their wounded hearts behind extremely high walls. I adore her. Always have. Even more now that we get her point of view. Though I sort of wish it was in first person like Feyre.

-- It's terribly ironic and funny that Feyre's solution to her sister spiraling out of control is to LOCK HER UP against her will. Gee, didn't someone do that to her and we all hated him for it? Who was that again? Oh, yes, Tamlin. "You will not be a prisoner" but there is like...no way out. Why doesn't the fae world have therapy?

-- "My Nesta. Elain will marry for love and beauty, but you, my cunning little queen...You shall wed for conquest." What the fuck was Mama Archeron's deal?

-- Mor comparing Nesta to Kier and the others in the Hewn City is bullshit.

-- Nesta's relationship with the House is so cute.

-- Nesta's self-hatred makes me cry. I've had the same thoughts that she's had. And when Cassian tells her that everyone hates her and it rings in her head like a bell...it's like a punch to the stomach.

-- Merrill is researching "the existence of different Realms -- different worlds. Living on top of each other without even knowing it....if it might be possible for worlds to overlap." Oh my God. "Some philosophers believe there are eleven worlds like that. And some believe there are as many as twenty-six."

Me:

-- "Maybe you'll become interesting at last, Elain." SICK FUCKING BURN, NESTA.

-- "I'm pissed off that you can't seem to believe even one good thing about her. That you REFUSE to fucking believe one good thing about her." Yesssss, Cassian. Where was that attitude in HOFAS when Rhys treated Nesta like SHIT and Cassian just...stood there and let him?

-- I know Nesta was drinking to excess, but so does everyone else in the Inner Circle. Hypocrites.

--' "Her trauma is..." Rhys's throat bobbed." Yeah, bud, yeah. Stop being a dick to her.

-- pretty fucked up that "you always have a choice" and "no secrets between us" Rhys won't tell Feyre about the risk the wings pose. Also, how is it that magic can REGROW WINGS, REVIVE THE DEAD, and heal someone who's GUTS ARE HANING OUT but a C section is beyond their healing capabilities. Make it make sense, SJM.

-- NESTA CLAIMING THE MASK, RASING THE LEGION, AND KILLING THE KELPIE!!! FUCK YES, LADY DEATH!!!!!!!

[lavendarneverlands]

ELAIN ARCHERON IS A MIDDLE CHILD