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alien-aisha-vending-machine · 3 months

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Theory: How Neoquest was the first appearance of the Wraith threat.

i've always had the theory that the madness/dark magic from the two ring castle -> dark magic that infected darigain -> the madness that affected modern neopians during TDF -> wraiths & how it's all related to faeries being a possibly unnatural presence in Neopia

Part 1: Neoquest, or, "What do you mean Neopia is post-apocalyptic?!"

NQ1 is possibly the earliest version of Neopia we have or have ever gotten (if one doesn't consider Tyrannia as "a slice of the prehistoric era".) Notably, it's never been "debunked" in the same way that NQII has (tho, aspects in NQII imply that there are some canon aspects, or that the story itself is true- while the version we PLAY is a re-enactment or simulation.)

Though, while these days, Neoquest, (be it 1 or 2) is often considered "fictional" within the worldbuilding, a lot of early site lore really leaned on Neoquest for it's foundations. Toys, weapons, stories. monsters... a lot of this was based on Neoquest. it's a story that's been long forgotten by the site itself, but I still feel that in terms of the greater story of "Neopia", it is the most reliable glimpse into the ancient past and the sort of idea of what Neopets' original trajectory was.

It's also notable as being a version of neopia without the influence of Faeries. In fact, most neopians are neopets, and not a faerie is found in all the game.

Neopia is described ingame as a not-so-friendly place that is swarming with monsters and animals.. many of which are other neopets. The structure of this version of Neopia is very very interesting, as instead of faeries, it seems like it was ruled by a Council known as the "Circle of Twelve" who used what was known as "circles" of magic instead of the more well-known schools of Faerie magic (Fire, Ice, Shock, Spectral, and Life magic vs the Faeries' Dark, Light, Earth, Air, Fire and Water magic)

The lore goes back even further, mentioning a Great Empire and a Civilization known as Keladrian- a civilization of powerful wizards that was ancient even before the already-ancient Great Empire.. which was 1000 years ago during NEOQUEST.

Upon using the amulet on Faleinn, the leader of Kal Panning, she has this to say:

So ultimately, after a great scuffle between Kal Panning and the Circle, the Circle destroyed Kal Panning over the course of a month- afterwards, they realized what they had done and their leader, Jahbal, was banished to the Two Ring Mountains- from therein he used his evil magic to... corrupt the outside world. This long-form campaign to ultimately reduced the world to a few pocket civilizations, wrought with monsters.

A lot of the monsters are very clearly neopets, though- mad, mindless, and slowly warping from their less-crazed counterparts. They are sort of.. feral, in a way. Why.. it seems to remind me of...

Notes to Carry Forward:

No Faeries were present in Neoquest times, or before then either.

... note that there is no Faeries in Tyrannia, either.

Neopia thrived on Wild Magic.

Neopia, at this point, is a twice-over post apocalyptic civilization

There is a Dark Magic spell that is causing Madness, Mutations, and Violence.

Part 2: Champions of Meridell, aka the one without Kass in it.

Meridell is planted firmly "in the past" described ingame as a forgotten land of heroes. With Meridell and it's surrounding areas being such big players in the larger story of Neopets, it's easy to forget the world of Neopia is a very modern sort of place.. roughly pre-industrial, and while these days- Meridell and the other fantasy-themed lands often stand next to other lands as if they exist in the modern settings, Access to these areas are through a time portal.

I find Champions an ultimately more interesting tale than Battle, as it's the introduction to Meridell as a whole and contains a hugely important aspect of the land. Meridell was once suffering under famine, and under the advice of a seer, the King sends his knights to locate an Orb.

Meridell, which was once ridden with disease and famine, began to burst into life and lush greenery.

It's notable that Skarl does not know, or does to wish to share the fact that he knows, that the knights he sent to retrieve this orb had ultimately stolen it from the kingdom of Darigan.

When the orb was stolen, Darigan took a huge dive-

seemingly ending up worse than Meridell ever was. But.. why? Why did Darigain's citizens mutate when Meridell did not? Perhaps the orb was used to suppress something darker? More ancient?

In the Twisted Histories Capsule Adventure, we are presented with an alternate timeline where Meridell was defeated by Darigan. I think it's genuinely one of the coolest set of items ever introduced (the whole alternate timeline thing as a whole), as it not only implies that Darigan not only defeats Meridell, but merges with it to become one land....

Another aspect I would like to point out is that as Darigan citadel approaches Meridell, Spiked tentacles begin to grow and thrash.

Notes to Carry Forward:

A magical orb is used to bring health to the land around it.

While no faeries are explicitly mentioned in the story, we know Illusen is around, and that an air faerie saves jeran in the direct sequel.

Without the protection of the orb, the land turns Dark and pets begin to mutate. Ultimately, their leader falls to madness.

prev mentioned spiked tentacles.

Part 3: The Darkest Faerie, or- why is all the best lore hidden in the TCG?

There is a lot of lore snuggled away in TDF. It's one of my favorite cornerstones of Neopets' history- even moreso than Neoquest. A lot of it's personality does get lost in the game, but the cards are a huge contributor to really getting a glimpse into what the world was intended to be.

An interesting aspect is the concept of becoming "Tainted." Not only can pets and petpets be "tainted" but so can locations. In fact, with spiked tendrils echoing the corruption of both Meridell and Darigain in Champions, it makes it easy to draw comparisons.

In-game, the pets simply turn purple and their eyes glow, but the cards show off some more intense mutations.

That sounds a lot like "Darigainification".. except possibly more intense. The land withered, pets mutated and went crazy, and darkness fell. The designs look very similar to darigan as a color.

Note that this darkness.. didn't start when The Darkest Faerie was released, mind you. It happened after Illusen was dispatched... and one of the major quests involves a magical orb that is used to dispel the darkness.

Faerie Magic is suppressing this darkness. Perhaps specifically earth faerie magic... These Orbs- both Illusen's and the nameless one that Skarl/Darigan has, are possibly infused with faerie magic and are keeping the darkness, whatever it is, at bay.

"This, the orb that froze her in time. Fyora used it to turn the darkest faerie to stone, and imprisoned her under the sea."

With Illusen's Orb (Globe ig) and Jerdana's orb (revealed to originally belong to Fyora) being sugnificant players in the story, These orbs are very clearly a huge thing for Faeries, either powerful or special in nature.

Stepping aside to a really obscure concept, Darkest originally was an ally to the altadorian council, before her dive into betrayal.. but what caused this? This book seems to suggest that she.. dug too deep, perhaps. Maybe she too went mad with what she knew- I think in that sense, she was a lot like Xandra... well, speaking of-

Notes to Carry Forward:

A magical orb is used to dispel dark magic from the land.

Without the protection of a faerie or their artefacts, the land turns Dark and pets begin to mutate.

It is implied that Darkest fell to madness, and she uses this magic to try and destroy the land.

While not depicted in-game, Altador and Meridell are infested by spiked tentacles.

Part 4: The Faerie's Ruin, aka the one that killed off Hubrid Nox (the only sugnificant thing that happened in this plot for realsies 100% no foolin')

So, we all know and love the faeries ruin. and I'm not gunna play recap since tumblr is already starting to lag at the length of this post. But ultimately, when the faeries were turned to stone.. what began to happen? Dark creatures began to crawl from

Xandra may not have been right, but she may have been onto something.

Her neopedia entry says a lot. Neopets ruled by a Neopet? I think once upon a time, the world used to be like that.

...without the faeries' power holding Neopia together, dark creatures emerged and preyed upon the very Neopets that Xandra hoped to empower.

In the wraith resurgance, it is canonized that Neopets can become wraiths- or at least, wraith-like. However, I struggle to accept the resurgance as genuine to the canon, since it a post-staff-purge/Jumpstart-era plot. Plus, it's impossible to navigate what is left, so it's hard to glean info about it.

Stars above, the Ruin plot really did have some of the most gorgeous art neopets ever put out, huh?

Notes to Carry Forward:

Without the protection of the faeries or their artifacts, the land turns Dark and monsters begin to infest the land.

Neopets can adopt the form of these creatures. While Darigan pets are corrupted, they also exist as a color outside the lore. It is unknown for sure of Wraith pets are corrupted like Darigan pets are.

Xandra, while initally "well-intentioned", ultimately falls to madness, and she uses this magic to try and destroy the land.

Part 5: So.. what are you saying?

So, I'm just gonna cut the guff and state my theory outright: Jahabal's Curse from back in NQ still plagues Neopia to this day, and the only thing keeping it from destroying the world is interference from the faeries & their magic. The curse is the direct cause of turning neopets into monsters, and the corruption timeline as Feral and/or Tainted -> Darigain -> Wraith.

I don't think it's all intended. But I think it's interesting how this all slots together super easily.

#neotag #neopets #Darigan #Neoquest #The Faerie's Ruin #The Darkest Faerie #Champions of Meridell #Fyora #Hanso #Brynn #Tormund Ellis #Roberta #Xandra #Neoquest Hero

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lavendarneverlands · 2 months

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Refresh/Remind me with fanon & canon as I reread please and have so many questions after finishing all of ACOTAR (onto TOG & CC next)

~ ACOTAR WORLD ~

— Were all the high lords except for Tamlin previously captured & trapped for all 50 years?

— What was the Night Court doing while Rhys was UTM?

— Is Mor’s power truth (if so, how does that work)?

— Did Rhys know Clare Beddor was a real person or did he think it was a fake name? (Couldn’t he read Feyre’s mind the whole time)?

— Were Rhys first words post UTM to Mor “she’s my mate”?

— Whatever happened to the child of the blessed Briar girl that Feyre saved?👀

— Is there any more canon than the single “she’s beautiful”🥹 Mor x Emerie scenes? Are they mates?

— Does Cassian ever ACTUALLY say “I love you” to Nesta?😭

— Was Nesta “technically” a witch when she had stolen Cauldron powers?

— Is Gwyn Azriel’s mate (Canon or Fanon)?

— Is Gwyn’s full name Gwyneth Berdera?

— Is their currently a High Priestess (or did they start a new rule post Ianthe)?

— Does Rhys, Cassian, or Azriel have a last name?

— Does Tamlin have a mate?

— Is Bryce from Crescent City (or is she a fan-made character)? / Is Bryce the same as Bryaxis? *If this is a major spoiler please don’t answer as I’m reading Crescent City and Throne of Glass next. 😅🤣 lol*

— What decides what the Bone Carver appears to you as?

… Thing to save you, Worst fear, Thing that will destroy you? Etc.

And what does it appear to each character as (Cassian especially)? — Along with what does Cassian see Bryaxis as?

— Speaking of… WHERE THE HECK IS BRYAXIS? How will Feyre get her😅 … Is that bargain technically broken (can bargains even be broken) if so, could she (and therefore Rhys) die from it??

— What/Who gave Cassian the chest, heart, and throat scar?😬

— Can mates be unrequited, ignored, once in a lifetime, multiple, platonic, etc.

Could for instance: Elain be Lucien’s mate, but Elain’s mate be Azriel, and Azriel’s mate be Gwyn? *or Lucien having a second mate in Elain after his tragic first love (can’t remember if his autumn court lover was his “mate” or not).

— Who holds the title “Queen of Queens” (is this fan given?) I’ve seen it both with Nesta & Mor and I’m quite curious in each characters “Court” story/placement.

— Can you rule a Court without being an Heir/Spouse? (though Feyre totally earned it, honestly it was more like an overdo promotion, so NOT saying she “JUST MARRIED HER WAY IN IN” to be clear)… More like: Could Lucien (being a double sided illegitimate son) be given the reigns to Spring Court (if Tamlin died, retired, was exiled, or goes into the intensive therapy that he so desperately needs)… In that could Elain then become High Lady of Spring Court (or just be given it or “Mother” chosen for her own character (mate aside)); cause she has the vibe (plus it would be cool triad yin-yang with a sister of night, another of death (and now mother given power… so life? … Is Nesta now life & death?) and the last being her (Elain) & of spring (it would have real Mother Nature / Persephone vibes).

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snowy-doe · 3 months

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Dimensional Xandra

#neopets #neotag #xandra #my art #the faeries ruin

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flowerflamestars · 6 months

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Chapters: 14/? Fandom: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Elain Archeron & Nesta Archeron, Nesta Archeron & Lucien Vanserra, Elain Archeron & Lucien Vanserra, Elain Archeron/Lucien Vanserra, Nesta Archeron/Cassian Characters: Elain Archeron, Nesta Archeron, Lucien Vanserra, Cassian (ACoTaR), Azriel (ACoTaR), The Lady of the Autumn Court (ACoTaR), Helion (ACoTaR), Feyre Archeron, Rhysand (ACoTaR) Additional Tags: Lucien actually gets the story he deserves, Nesta and Elain: the Most Competent, Archeron merchant family legacy, ACOMAF AU, Who runs the world? Nesta and Elain, Archeron sisters who knew about the War before Feyre told them, Lucien Spring Court Traitor Vanserra, Found Family, fake engagment, ride or die means you can't fucking die, a very different take on the Hybernian war, Fix-it fic, Older Archeron Sisters & Lucien centric Summary:

So bleeding and burning, lost and found, Lucien Vanserra staggered into human lands, and found he wanted to live.

#WE'RE BACK WE'RE BACK WE'RE BACK BABES #two chapters promised?#hah I split them into four because LENGHT #a glimpse of Azriel's promised melt down!#Nesta and Elain using skills and trade and having actual fucking hearts to WIN #the biggest side eye imaginable to Cassian and Mor's canon relationship #317 vassals: THE QUEENS? fuck the Queens the QUEENS DIDN'T NURSE OUR SICK AND LOWER OUR TAXES AND BRING FUCKING ILLYRIANS TO OUR AID #A legion with basically nothing waiting for them at home: we get paid HOW MUCH to carry BABIES #Cassian continues to functionally go insane in the best way possible #Nesta's decision making growing tighter and tighter #Elain conversely starting to really really lose her temper once and for all #LUCIEN GETS TO BE LOVED BY THEIR PEOPLE TOO!#he's theirs!#Night as a crumbling empire a ruined system and a totalitarian dictatorship #Kali: goddamn Cassian is going to have weird little blue eyed asshole faery babies #Zaphael: CASSIAN is going to go win a war for OUR FREEDOM #Kali (who knows that but has been dealing with Mor for centuries): OUR FREEDOM WHERE Zaph? hmmm?#Effloresce #Elucien #Nessian

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greenleaf777 · 7 months

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Extra Mini Elriel Art piece cause i hate wasting pages on one big sketch so now it shares some space LOL

#elriel #azriel x elain #azriel #elain archeron #acotar art #acotar fanart #elriel fanart #acotar #acosf #acomaf #acowar #a court of thorns and roses #a court of silver flames #a court of mist and fury #a court of wings and ruin #ship fanart #faerie #illyrian

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honeyixi · 1 year

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Here is a cool crossover commission I recently completed for @zennistrad and their fic, Brand Neo World. I loved playing around with the nighttime setting! Do you recognize the characters and location?

#neopets #neotag #art #my little pony #mlp:fim #mlp: equestria girls #neoart #xweetok #sunset shimmer #xandra #the faerie's ruin

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veeparkersstuff · 8 months

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"Whatever you need to throw at me, I can take it. I won't break" -Cassian

(Like or reblog, don't repost pls♥️)

#cassian #acotar #sarah j maas #nesta archeron #azriel #a court of silver flames #a court of wings and ruin #a court of mist and fury #a court of thorns and roses #faerie #fae #cassian and nesta #enemies to lovers #feysand #nyx #night court #bat boys #book boyfriend

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checkoutmybookshelf · 11 days

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Cul-de-Sacs are Bad Writing

Ok, I have to be honest with y'all here. I didn't QUITE throw this book at the wall, but I WANTED TO. I don't know what HAPPENED with this book. ACOTAR was aggressively fine, if poorly paced and plotted, and ACOMAF was actually fun to read and enjoyable. Then we get to ACOWAR and the pacing and plotting problems are back with a goddamn vengeance, there are chapter cul-de-sacs that go nowhere and add nothing to the story or the character arcs, and SJM has this GODDAMN INFURIATING HABIT of just...picking up words that have specific meanings in specific contexts, going "that sounds cool" and dropping them places that make my extremely well-read, allusion-alert brain tweak in some extremely painful places because you can't just...APPROPRIATE WORDS LIKE "SERAPHIM" AND "MYRMIDONS" WITHOUT MEANINGFULLY RECONTEXTUALIZING THEM!!!! Not to mention that SJM murders the stakes of this book in their cradle. I swear to cauldron, this book was actually inexcusably bad. So let's talk A Court of Wings and Ruin.

So this is both your SPOILER WARNING and your heads up that this will be a RANT REVIEW. If you loved this book, this is not the review for you. Do not come crying to me that you weren't warned if you read past this point. This is also a CONTENT WARNING because there will be mentions and discussions of sexual assault because every SJM villain is also a rapist for SOME REASON.

I don't even know where to start with this book. I suppose...I suppose we could start with a few of the things I didn't hate. Oh, and the one thing I actually did like. That seems like a good way to begin.

The one thing about this book that I actually genuinely enjoyed was getting the foundation for Nessian. I was actually interested in Nesta's emotional journey because she had some goddamn agency in it. Like yes, she was yote into the cauldron against her will, but she never let go of her agency and she MADE it give her something in return. Like, yes girl, tell me more. Explore that. Dig in. And also, yes, I too am interested in the man-bunned jock who, when he is adulting, is a general and baddest bat boy on the battlefield. I enjoy their evolution from schoolyard hair pulling and insult slinging to actual partnership on and off the battlefield. I almost get a "he fell first, she fell harder" vibe from them, but their dynamics aren't fully cooked yet so don't quote me on that. Nessian was the best part of this book for me.

I also appreciated the setup and payoff of Nesta getting to absolutely annihilate the King of Hybern. There was something deeply satisfying about her taking his head off slowly and brutally for what he did to her and Elain. That was a great moment, even if the broader scene was in a part of the book where the stakes had long been dead and buried and the Nessian stakes in particular felt a little...hollow...as a result. Still loved the visceral, hands-on revenge murder for Nesta. Why yes, I did major in early modern drama and yes, I do have a thing for revenge tragedies. What gave me away?

Finally, can we PLEASE give Nesta the goddamn credit she deserves for single-handedly saving the High Lords alliance meeting? Because Feyre fucking blew it. She fireballed and everyone was about to bail and Nesta single-handedly saved the damn meeting through sheer force of personality. Girl understood the stakes and was the only one in the room who managed to get past the petty political and emotional bullshit and keep that big picture in mind. Nesta is a queen in her own right and frankly? She's a better Rhys than Rhys is in terms of actually trying to create a better world.

Sadly, we must now move on from the things I liked to the things I didn't hate. And there were actually a few, although they're more moments and little pieces of themes and character than actual themes and character arcs, because this book does actual themes and character arcs TERRIBLY. But. I didn't actually hate Amren getting to be high fae at the end of the book. Amren's whole deal was that she had to choose to be someone else to get out of the prison, and in the years she has BEEN Amren, I think she discovered that she really likes being Amren. The fact that she gets to be high fae Amren at the end of the book, that she gets to be the person she chose and likes? I can't not get behind that. The way we got there was inexcusably monster ex machina and SJM leaned WAY too hard on resurrections (Not even joking, when I was reading this, I live-reacted at my sister going "WTF AMREN!!" and her response was literally "give it five minutes, she'll be back".) in this book, but the core of "Amren gets to be the person she chose and liked" was good. I didn't hate that.

This might seem petty, but another thing I didn't hate was Feyre constantly crashing into trees, walls, and the ground while learning to fly. Some of these moments were genuinely comedic, some of them were nice little arrogance takedowns, and sometimes it was really just nice to see Feyre hit a hard surface at speed because lord knows I wanted to fling objects at her more than a few times this book. The pitfalls of learning to fly also felt real, grounded, and appropriately frustrating, so I didn't hate those scenes.

I also can't say I hated Feyre systematically dismantling both Ianthe's and Tamlin's credibility in the Spring Court. Was it shortsighted and ultimately counter to the larger goals of the book? God yes. Was it petty AF? Hell yes. Was it really straining the credibility of Feyre as "the people's hero"? YOU FUCKING BET YOUR ASS IT WAS. But all of that said...my God it was satisfying to watch Feyre show back up to the Spring Court and take it apart piece by piece. It's wildly unfair to Tamlin, but SJM seems to have appointed this poor 20-something with generational and personal trauma, leadership responsibility, no experience and no help as the series punching bag, and I can't fix that. All I can do is enjoy the petty assholery of Feyre taking his entire world apart (and shooting herself in the foot as she does so). (I was less enamored of Feyre beating Ianthe's hands into pulp instead of killing her. I am aware it was for plot reasons, but that was possibly the dumbest decision she could have made.) So while the early chapters of the book were objectively a Tamlin character assassination, those early chapters paced decently well and were fun in a petty, set-it-on-fire-to-watch-it-burn kind of way.

Another thing I super did not hate was Lucien. Lucien has always been an interesting character, and he shows himself to be capable of critical thought in this book, which we love to see! Then of course SJM writes him out for 85% of the book, so there's not a lot of time and space to love him.

Ooh, I also liked Bryaxis. Cool idea, great vibes, and I'm very much here for Feyre STILL NOT BEING ABLE TO INTERNALIZE NOT MAKING DEALS WITH FAE OR ELDRITCH HORRORS. Like...girl. You were warned multiple times, but now you have shadow kitty wanting pets. Did not hate anything about that.

Which...I think rather takes us to the end of the things I didn't hate about this book. Yikes, that is a short list. So if you're a Feysand stan or adored this book and somehow made it this far, I am going to respectfully suggest bailing now. I did not enjoy the rest of this book, and I'm going to explain why. If you're cool with that, we love to have you. If not, we will catch you next time.

For everyone who is still here, let's dive into ALL THE THINGS ABOUT THIS BOOK THAT WERE INEXCUSABLY BAD. And we're going to have to start with Rhysand, because dear god, what the hell happened. (And yes, I ended that sentence with a period. That sentence doesn't deserve a question mark.)

I thoroughly enjoyed cocky asshole Under-the-Mountain Rhys. He was a dick, he knew it, but he also had a sense of...idk, almost fair play that worked for him. I also am a big proponent of if you're going to write a cocky asshole, they better ENJOY that shit. "Hello Feyre, darling" was an A+ moment. It was the epitome of cocky asshole who knows he's a cocky asshole and enjoys it. I was tentatively on board with secret feminist Rhys in ACOMAF, but then we get to this book, and I just straight-up could not with traumatized bat bitch who was willing to completely toss his ideals out the window and retraumatize his found family for...reasons. In no particular order, these are the things I took issue with where Rhys was concerned:

Repeatedly traumatizing Mor and then INVALIDATING her very reasonable responses to him full-on not giving a fuck if the Darkbringer legion raped and pillaged their way across a battlefield, bringing Eris Vanserra into a meeting without warning her, opening Velaris to the night court, and invalidating her (heavily implied to be) sexual trauma and abuse by saying he'd have worked with Amarantha so she should work with whoever he tells her to. Like...holy shit Rhys, you say you're over here to help women recover and heal from these kinds of traumas, so WHAT THE HELL IS MOR TO YOU? All of this was shitty and Mor lets him off the hook way, way too easily. I'm not going to, though. Rhys was actively playing "my trauma was worse than yours" with Mor and that's a SHITTY thing to do to literal family--both blood and chosen.

Rhys letting Feyre off the hook for invading Lucien's mind. Let's be super real here: Feyre has been kind of a bad friend to Lucien from minute one. She has no boundaries, no ethics, and is possibly the worst person to have her particular set of powers. But it's not like she's getting EFFECTIVE HELP AND GUIDANCE from the one other person with that particular skill. She apologized to RHYS about it and he accepted the apology and told her she wouldn't cross the line again. Like...Sir. That was LUCIEN'S APOLOGY to either accept or reject, and I no longer love that you don't have ethics around this power use either. Shaky magical ethics are NOT GOOD. Adhere to them or don't, as is appropriate for a character, but like...have them well-established and strong. (It is possible I read Arrows of the Queen at too formative an age, but y'know, magical ethics are a thing I think about!)

Rhys's self-sacrifice obsession. This is one of those "your mileage may vary" things, but it absolutely did not work for me as a reader. I am too steeped in the "Dying for people is easy, it lets you off the hook" mentality to appreciate Rhys over here constantly going "If there is a price, I will pay it with my life." It also made fixing the cauldron REALLY fucking frustrating for me, because they had the five minutes to get the rest of the inner circle over there (or literally any of the other high lords or people with magic) to help. There was also an opportunity for a found family save, with Rhys going for the sacrifice play and the fam going "Hell no." But no, we had to LIE TO OUR WIFE and DIE. For all of about five minutes before we do a Twilight where "OH-EM-GEE FEYRE NOW YOU TRULY UNDERSTAND HOW I FELT UNDER THE MOUNTAIN" because apparently empathy isn't something Feyre is capable of...? I keep getting told not to try to logic this book, but some of this just defies even vibe reading, you guys.

I found Rhys a STRUGGLE and deeply unsympathetic this book despite a tragic backstory that should have done a lot of heavy lifting. Like, he's had some genuinely harrowing and traumatizing experiences. But then he invalidates other people's trauma and is super willing to INFLICT it on people. And he's not even got the courtesy to ENJOY it, so then I'm just over here drowning in angsty man pain that is in no small part of his own making...like there were moments I genuinely went "Did Rhys and Harry Dresden go to the same school of man pain?" I lack patience for this kind of non-self-reflective nonsense these days. I understand being protective of family and wanting your family to be ok, but Rhys gets smothery and toxic in ways that I am not here for.

Since a fair amount of my issues with Rhys are how he treats Mor, I think that makes for a decent segue into my issues with how Mor is handled. These come in two somewhat intertwined branches. The first is Mor's treatment of Nesta. The second is how SJM handles Mor's sexuality.

I'm going to say right here and right now, these books were DYING for LGBTQIA+ representation. These books are SO heteronormative, and adding representation would have been lovely...except that I would argue that the rep was handled poorly, leaned into harmful stereotypes, and poked holes in both Mor's characterization and the narrative structure of the book. I'm not here to disbelieve Mor when she says she prefers women, but finds pleasure with both men and women. I believe Mor. What I do think is that SJM coded Mor as straight for two and a half books, and that last-second pivot does a couple of things.

First, it calls Morrigan into question as a reliable narrator out of absolutely nowhere. Nowhere in ACOTAR or ACOMAF do we get a sense that Mor is an unreliable narrator. She has her perspective and biases, as any character does, but nowhere do we get the sense that she is hiding anything or lying. The inner circle TRUSTS her, that is established and shown. To suddenly have her go "Yeah, I've been lying to Cassian and Azriel for 500 years, and every time Azriel gets too clingy I sleep with a man where he can see to remind him to back off" is deeply toxic and this is sort of...never addressed? Not to mention that until this point, I had read Mor's leaning into open sexuality as a way to take agency and control after what her family did to her, and the reveal that she's bi kind of changes that into the "promiscuous bisexual who is often toxic" stereotype, which like...HATE THAT for Mor. The writing directly undercut something I was reading as strength and made it stereotype-y and toxic, and I hate that. And the book doesn't even address it! I could see a plotline in which Mor recognizing and addressing this toxicity and evolving herself and her relationships with the inner circle to a point where she is out, happy, healthy, and supported, and her boys are just happy she trusts them enough to be her whole self with them, but the book doesn't do that. It just reiterates stereotypes and keeps Mor with one foot in the closet and one foot out of it. LET MORRIGAN BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY AND HER WHOLE SELF!!!

And for the love of god have her stop actively being nasty and aggressive at Nesta over Nesta's interest in Cassian. That was uncalled for on every possible level. Before we get the bi reveal, it was the tired, toxic, girls fighting over a man thing. Afterward, it's another really ugly layer of Mor trying to keep Cassian trapped as a permanent buffer between her and Azriel. Literally nothing about this dynamic is good, but again, the book just kind of...presents it and does nothing with it. And I really don't love that because the potential for strong communication and growth in the inner circle dynamics was THERE and it was INTERESTING and then it was SQUANDERED in favor of the Feysand show. And it's not like there are any other characters to give another perspective on this--we just have Helion who also falls into that bisexual stereotype. So I would have loved some more representation here, but the representation we got was...not ideal.

I also have a bit of a bone to pick with the Illyrian wings. They got SO SET UP as delicate and difficult to fix if you fuck them up. But then all three of our bat boys have them absolutely shredded in this book and like...it's not fun but it's also not given the weight I'd have expected from how they were built up in ACOMAF.

We cannot talk about this book without also talking a little bit about the bigass High Lords Alliance Meeting. This thing got SO HYPED in the first half of this book. Like it was constantly being talked about, planned, and reiterated in terms of its importance. I was expecting an actual discussion about politics and alliances and the practicalities of working together to defeat Hybern. And in SJM's defense...we do get a little bit of that. But MOSTLY what we get is high-school level sniping, aggravated assault, and FEYRE FUCKING FIREBALLS BERON. Which pretty much could have torpedoed the meeting except for Nesta. NGL y'all, I was SO LET DOWN by this whole series of chapters. But at least these chapters had actual effects on the story...unlike the next bunch of scenes and chapters.

The latter half of this book, and particularly once the war gets going properly, this book is FULL TO THE GODDAMN BRIM of cul-de-sac scenes and chapters that go nowhere and affect the status quo not at all. Big standout examples of this include Elain getting kidnapped by Hybern and Rhys being dead for like five minutes.

Elain getting kidnapped by Hybern was literally just payoff for Feyre's flying lessons. Which didn't end up mattering anywhere else. Az and Feyre do a quickie side quest to rescue Elain and some random girl and Az gets his wings shredded, but it's ok, they have healers and he can *checks notes* MAGICALLY PATCH WOUNDS LONG ENOUGH TO GET BACK. Sure. Whatever. At this point I didn't even care, nothing mattered and there were no stakes. They get Elain back. It's fine.

Rhys was dead for less than ten minutes. Holly Goddamn Short could have brought him back easier than she brought Butler back. And it's not like we genuinely thought that Rhys was going to die after all that, this isn't that kind of book. Literally I'm so pissed off though, because SJM full-on did the whole, "Now you know what I went through when you died under the mountain, Feyre" thing. Like...is empathy not one of her skills? Or is Rhys so insecure that he can't imagine empathy without a 1:1 experience relationship? I hated this so much because it was dumb, it isn't how EMOTIONS work, and frankly? Why didn't Rhys want to SPARE her that experience? Because it sounded like it sucked.

I also need to address the Jurian/Mirayam/Drakon/Seraphim thing. It was underdeveloped as hell, doesn't come to a satisfying ending, and "OOPSIE POOPSIE OUR SHIELDS DON'T HAVE FRIEND FILTERS" so they were exactly where they were meant to be the whole damn time was fucking infuriating. This either needed development or to be left in draft, and at this point I don't care which.

Finally, the end of this book just felt limp. We half-assedly attempted to get everyone to renegotiate the treaty, and then went back to Velaris and broke out the good stuff. It is possibly the limpest ending I've read in a longass time.

This book didn't need to be this long. There was too much padding and not enough development, and a lot of it was just infuriating. The Mirror of Ouroboros was super underdeveloped, the character dynamics got driven into the ground, and the writing was deeply problematic on a bunch of technical levels. I have NOT forgiven the use of "twisted" or "Seraphim" or "Myrmidon" wildly out of context. These terms do not just...decouple from their connotations and contexts because SJM think they sound cool and yeet them at a book. The truly infuriating thing was the squandered potential after ACOMAF, because I genuinely enjoyed that book. I can't say the same of ACOWAR.

#acowar #a court of wings and ruin #acotar #faeries #fantasy books #books and reading #books #books and novels #books & libraries

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bakananya · 2 months

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Of the Shadows and Blood.

(Azriel X OC)

Zene and her band of misfits have only one purpose in their lives. Save as many innocent women and children from illyrian camps and punish as many illyrian males for their crimes and bring them to justice, something clearly the authorities in power won't do.

She will get her friends and family to safety on one of the islands across the sea, where they can finally live a life of peace and safety and comfort.

But when their actions draw the attention of the illustrious Inner Circle of the Night Court, Zene finds herself face to face with the mysterious spymaster, Azriel.

Mother, however, has different plans for them, as an unfortunate mating bond snaps in place, and a new threat is simmering in the horizon, forcing Zene to work with those she despises. And forcing her even closer to a certain shadowsinger and a mating bond she doesn't want.

AO3 link -

(I did end up posting on both lmao)

Part one of a fanfic based on this scene I came up with -

Enjoyyy

Chapter 1

"Do you have eyes on the armory? That's where they hide most of their loot."

"Of course, I also have eyes on the Winery,"

"Gabs, I swear to fucking gods-"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, Zene. Gods, Relax." Gabrielle rolled her shoulder, adjusting her grip on the railing of their makeshift watchtower. The moon rained a silvery glow over the landscape below, illuminating the sprawling camp of their enemies. The wind rustled through the trees that hid them from the camp.

"I can't believe they fell for it again, aren't most of these men married?" She crinkled her nose in distaste. "Yet they opt to attend this event. It's literally borderline cheating."

Her eyes narrowed as she focused back towards the pub, a couple men with giant black wings entering.

"That's all of them. They are all in the pub." Her eyes gleamed with a predatory glint, feral sadism shining in her blue eyes as she watched, before her attention turned to the other side of the camp. Angling her neck to get a better view, she continued, "The Angels have started their rounds in the residential cottages looking for victims, and Nox should be at the armory in 5 minutes. They can hold the information off for 30 minutes, tops. The triplets will be waiting inside, lets hope they did their job well. You sure we are enough to take out 60 Illyrian warriors in that pub?"

"Don't make me laugh." Zene scoffed, her lips turning up into a smirk. "We have dealt with worse. Let's get this over with."

The watchtower creaked softly as a gust of wind swept through, carrying the scent of pine and distant fires. Below, torches flickered, casting dancing shadows on the ground.

They approached the pub, winnowing their way through the broken wards, the sound of muffled laughter and clanking tankards drifting out into the night air. Zene flicked her head towards the small cottage in front of the pub as a gesture for Gabrielle while she circled around to the back entrance, ensuring they had every angle covered, only to freeze and immediately take cover when she almost ran into a guard.

With a small movement of her wrist, Zene hurled one of her glowing cobalt daggers, embedding it in the wooden wall beside the unsuspecting guard. His eyes flickered to the left towards the dagger now glinting in the moonlight, but before he could raise any alarm, she was upon him, her second dagger finding its mark in his neck with lethal precision. The guard collapsed silently, his body crumpling to the ground, and Zene entered the pub with a push to the backdoor and the glowing dagger in the wall misted away.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle moved with the grace of a hunting cat, her bow drawn taut as she perched on the rooftop of the adjacent cottage. With a keen eye towards the giant open window at the front of the pub, she targeted the Illyrians inside, and focused on one of them. The man near the window was laughing, guffawing really, as he looked at someone just out of sight. A slight smile curved on her lips, as she lets the arrow fly, just as he throws his head back into another laugh, landing precisely on his pulsepoint.

His eyes widened as he choked, the goblet clattering to the ground. His hands ghost over his neck, before his body fell to the ground.

Gabrielle could almost hear the silence that was now perpetuating in the room. She hid behind the chimney taking cover as she loaded another arrow and giggled to herself, before closing her eyes as she disappeared.

Her bow and arrow also vanished with her, yet she was there, unseen and unheard, skipping to different parts of the rooftop, soft laughter of pure and utter mirth escaping her lips as each arrow, seemingly appearing out of thin air, found its mark with deadly accuracy. The soft thud of bodies hitting the ground felt like a reward, the air smelled like beer and fear, anger and vengeance.

Inside, chaos erupted as the Illyrians scrambled to defend themselves against the unseen assailants.

Zene, with her short stature, effortlessly weaved through the crowd of towering illyrians, unnoticed towards the back of the small makeshift stage as the men scrambled to ready their weapons. Their focus was fixated on the window, where arrows materialized, seemingly out of nowhere.

She quickly surveyed the people backstage, her eyes landing finally on a pair of ocean blue with midnight black hair, and the delicate and pale face of a young girl, looking intently at her. The girl's face was calm, waiting.

Zene tilted her head in silent inquiry, a wordless question hanging in the air.

The girl nodded.

Zene smiled to herself and watched as the girl turned to the other two girls flanking her. A brunette and a ginger, both just as beautiful, bordering on surreal. They exchanged hushed words amongst themselves before gliding towards the backstage exit, their graceful movements captivating even in the midst of urgency.

After making sure that the triplets had left, Zene turned back towards the pub, a slight grimace on her lips. With a graceful gesture, she extended her palms and summoned two orbs of radiant blue light, which coalesced into gleaming daggers. Gripping their hilts firmly, she raised her gaze, a quick whispered apology to the mother leaving her lips as she swiftly plunged one of the shimmering blades into the nearest Illyrian's neck, his mouth opening in a silent scream. The glow of the blades casting an eerie illumination upon the chaotic scene.

As Zene swiftly killed another Illyrian with her glowing daggers, chaos erupted in the pub. The remaining warriors scrambled to defend themselves against the unexpected attack, their shouts and the clash of weapons filling the air.

But they were slow, far too slow against the two nimble females.

Perhaps they should have thought twice before accepting faerie wine from the pretty nymphs, when their wives waited at home.

The thought rid Zene of any guilt in her heart, her mind closing off all emotions as she brutalised the illyrians. Most of them, she only injured enough to knock them out, some of them fainted all because of the wine the nymph triplets had seduced into their systems and the other, the ones she remembered specifically from their earlier observation rounds in this camp as being specifically terrible to women and children, she murdered in cold blood.

Zene's movements were a blur of calculated strikes and swift dodges as she danced through the chaos, her glowing daggers made swirls of light in the dimly lit pub. With each precise motion, another Illyrian fell, leaving a trail of fallen warriors in her wake, until the pub was littered with bodies and the air thick with the scent of blood and sweat and beer.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle continued her unseen assault from the rooftop, her laughter echoing through the night as she picked off her targets with lethal accuracy. With each arrow she released, another enemy met their demise, adding to the growing tally of casualties inflicted by the duo.

With the majority of their foes incapacitated, severely injured or knocked out, Gabrielle quickly winnowed into the scene, eyes just a little too wild with mirth to be considered sane.

Zene and Gabrielle quickly moved to secure the pub, ensuring that any others still watching were dealt with swiftly and decisively. Bloodied but unbowed, they stood amidst the aftermath of their handiwork, their breaths coming in steady rhythms as they surveyed the scene before them.

"That was not nearly as fun as I thought it would be." Gabrielle's laughter tinkled through the air, a stark contrast to the bloody silence around her, as she playfully nudged the head of one of the fallen Illyrians with her foot, a wry grin forming on her lips at the snort that escaped the unconscious man. "They really are just pea brained warriors, accepting wine from nymphs." She scoffed.

"You seem particularly happy for someone who didn't think this was fun enough." Zene points out, eyes scanning the room and counting the number of bodies.

"I have a bit of a history with this camp. I remember being beaten to a pulp for forgetting to heat up water for my lovely husband here. Pity he died in the Hybern war, I would have taken my time with him." Gabrielle's eyes were dark, no amusement left in her icy blue eyes.

The women are out and team angels is halfway back already, the guards have been alerted. Leave.

As Nox's voice echoed in her head, Zene silently thanked her before reinforcing her mental shields. She then turned to Gabrielle, who now held a goblet filled with faerie wine.

"Let me just finish counting up and then we can-" Zene paused as she noticed that Gabrielle had gone quiet. Her eyes were wide, her red lips open in horror as she stared at one specific spot near the sofas.

Zene's eyes followed Gabrielle's line of vision, jaw tensing as she noticed the unconscious man.

It shouldn't have been surprising to see just another giant illyrian man with huge wings splayed out on the couch, absolutely drunk on faerie wine. Nothing out of place for what Gabrielle and Zene had just done.

No, it should have been a normal sight, just another man, the last one really, with which Zene could have been done counting the number of people in the pub, and gone home arm and arm after another successful raid.

After all, there was nothing abnormal about his towering physique and fairly long dark hair, put up in a bun, some of the hair falling into his face, nothing abnormal about his illyrian leathers, nothing abnormal at all.

Nothing except, the seven shining siphons, placed strategically on his impressive body.

Gabrielle and Zene exchanged nervous glances.

"We have to run."

Authors note

Disclaimer: This is just random brain stuff okay? Do not take this too seriously idk what im doing. There WILL BE GLARINGLY OBVIOUS PLOTHOLES I HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE

Updates Schedule : Sporadic until May 5 and then I will probably go like once a week maybe.

I am going to post on AO3 too, linked at the top of the chapter. Also english is NOT my native language so expect mistakes.

I am open to suggestions and stuff, I only have like I basic idea where I want to take things, please leave comments if u want to see certain things or dynamics! Reblogs are appreciated.

Have a great rest of the day! Leave a comment if you want to be tagged. The ones in red could not be tagged, I really don't know why someone help-

I would love to discuss more with you in the comments 🫶🏼

@thelov3lybookworm @moony-loves-books @maribelpj @stardustcrusadingcherry @thisiskaylin @cleverzonkwombatsludge @asilverraven @mich0731

@impossibellesliteraryloves @marvelouslovely-barnes @kksbookstuff @ineedafreeblog @tomanyfandomsnotenoughtime

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