Reblogged nikethestatue
Reblogged feyredarlinq
The Eras Tour surprise songs parallels
July 4, 2024—Amsterdam, Netherlands: Guilty as Sin? / Untouchable (mashup)
Reblogged albaarmoury
digital selfharm is real. do NOT check up on that ex-partner/ex-friend. do NOT reread those old messages/conversations that you know will hurt your feelings all over again or that will otherwise make you feel like shit. do NOT block evade to see if you’re being talked about. inhale. exhale. let it pass and you’ll be better for it.
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The main difference between perception of Korra and Aang is that Korra is always forced to face the consequences of her actions and Aang never is. The new movie proves it, there hasn't been a word about how Aang's actions led to his friends literally dying from his fans.
Which is crazy to me because Aang was way less justified than Korra. Korra was a teenager who didn't listen to her dad and Tenzin because she found out they were keeping things from her, Aang was a grown man who had no legitimate reason not to listen to his "found family" (which included the love of his life btw) other than the fact that Tagah was an Airbender and that was after he neglected to tell Aang himself about the storm.
And then everyone gets revived (which, as much as I love Katara, was bullshit because how did she heal herself if she was dead?) and they don't even so much as scold Aang. Bryke has always held Korra to a standard they don't enforce onto Aang and the fandom perpetuates that.
Korra's mistakes result in "world ending" outcomes because the narrative makes it that way. The only reason Aang's don't is because the narrative has always gone easier on him, even in situations where him and Korra behave the same way.
She deserves better
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German audiobook voice actress posted this:
(Instagram auto translation)
Interesting choice of characters 🤭
If the next three books were truly going to be about the Valkyries, ACOTAR 6 wouldn't be considered the first part of that story when ACOSF exists, yet it's called Movement 1.
Using the term "movement" instead of "part" like the series has normally done, plus the specific name being "The Valkyrie Cycle" makes the connection to Wagner's Opera far more obvious. A Valkyrie (Nesta) was obviously always going to be heavily involved in whatever the next books were but despite the subtitle that's invigorated half of the fanbase, there's still no mention of the other two Valkyries. The combination of all these facts should tell you where the series is heading
Reblogged transformativeworks
AO3 Maintenance
AO3 will be down for about 2 hours starting at 08:00 UTC on August 21 (what time is that for me?) while we prepare some improvements to collection browsing. Please follow our status page for updates.
Posted: 08:00 UTC on August 19, 2026
The planned AO3 maintenance for August 21 has been canceled. It will be rescheduled for a later date.
Posted: 09:26 UTC on August 20, 2026
Reblogged feyredarlinq
Reblogged feyredarlinq
atp with the absolute lack of gwyn at every turn i have to wonder if SJM genuinely resents her as a character and has put an embargo on mentioning her.
because bloomsbury isn't stupid, they know she's a fan favourite. so why not include her?
she wasn't in the mates quiz, or in the autumn equinox promo. she wasn't even in the pilates valkyrie workout promo as that only included questions about the core characters. SJM hasn't talked about her once.
if i'm being honest i think SJM knows about the ship war but resents that it's mainly gwynriel / elriel rather than elucien / elriel as that second option is what's actually in the books.
i wonder if she's so fed up of it all that she won't even acknowledge gwyn anymore because she knows gwynriels will kick off about it.
It makes sense because in what universe does a romance series marketed towards women pit two women against each other for a man. Think about it, it's always a love triangle with two men involved for the heroine ie audience surrogate to choose. Twilight, Hunger Games, Vampire Diaries etc will lead with MFM marketing becuase that's what appeals to women.
Even Tower of Dawn, their favourite example in support of an Azriel centred book, was not written or marketed this way. It shows how removed the antis are from general romance readership, that they want to see Elain try and fail to compete with another woman over a man. When most readers just do not hate Elain with the level of intensity needed to enjoy such a narrative.
We want to see the Archeron sisters fall in love, develop and exercise their own autonomy. We also want female friendship! Women supporting women! Tell me where in any of SJM's books do women compete with each other. The only drama women provide for the heroine is when they are irredeemable antagonists (Amarantha, Ianthe, Maeve), which is probably why evil!Elain theories were so popular a couple years ago.
In mainstream romance novels, Other Woman, or OW drama, has largely fallen out of fashion. Readers don't want to read about it, forums will warn about books with it, though it's not as forbidden as cheating or no HEA, it's no longer something women accept in romance novels, and SJM's writing reflects this. She's writing for an audience that want to see women uplift each other. Feyre with the art studio, Nesta reforming the Valkeries, all three sisters forming female friendships (which is also why the idea of Elain's friendship trio including Jurian (who made rape jokes about her) is ridiculous and laughable)
So yeah, there is probably an embargo so that Tiktok doesn't blow up with content promoting Acotar 6 as an Elain vs Gwyn story. That sort of narrative? Not SJM's brand. It's an archaic idea fuelled by Elain hatred, fear of Elriel, internalised misogyny and other things I cba to talk about right now. It's oppositional to the marketing they want to push - about a woman exercising her free will when it comes to choosing her romantic partner.
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I really was thinking there for a WHILE that the Air Nomads in Sonam's time were some kind of colonialist empire under a Cult of Personality for the Avatar.
Imagine: the Avatar using her influence and power to spread her people's culture among the nations, because her people won't ever take a life, her people are spiritual, her people are better. They'll subdue but not kill: life is Sacred.
(leaving their opponents with all their limbs broken from falling; with brain damage from oxygen deprivation)
If everyone was like the airbenders, there would be no war, no strife. Peace could reign in the world, if the other nations would just listen. Thus began the Golden Age of the Air Nomads.
Avatar Sonam and her city, the headquarter for her cult, are the reason the Air Nomads didn't have any centralized government or a nation before the Air Genocide: after Sonam's death or defeat, the Air Nomads realized the error and horror of what they did and decided it could never happen again. Dispersing into temples to only be spiritual advisors for those who asked, rather than enforcing their will upon the other nations. To provide aid as needed to all peoples but never again get directly involved in conflict.
(Tagah would be a cultist desperate to spread the Air Ascendancy across the world in Sonam's name: an imperialist, rather than someone wanting to commit genocide because he watched his friends get murdered.)
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people are confused “unsolicited criticism in fanfics is rude” with “fanfics are above criticism.” no one says fanfics are above criticism. what we’re saying is that, unless an author specifically asks for feedback and criticism, unsolicited criticism is rude, because unlike anything else that you pay to consume and therefore can rightfully be criticized, fanfics are free and they are someone’s hobby. authors are kind enough to share what they write as their hobbies with you for free. you don’t have to like these fics. you can click away from a fic you don’t like at any point you want. but—again, unless specifically and directly asked by an author—it’s rude to tell someone, who is kind enough to allow you free access to their house, their art, that their fics should have been xyz.
so no, fanfics are not above criticism. just like how a gift someone gives you is not above criticism.
but giving fanfics unsolicited criticism is rude. just like how it’s rude to tell someone that you don’t like the gift they gives you for free, out of kindness.
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spiderman brand new day and the importance of care. mj not loving peter due to not knowing him, but still caring about him enough to invite him up, to draw him, to send frank to watch him, to give him advice and be concerned. ned not remembering what spiderman means to him, but trying to find him anyway to thank him. frank worrying about this kid who is determined to save everybody he possibly could. peter caring about jean grey, taking a bullet for her despite almost all his interactions with her being antagonistic, because she exists, and she deserves so much better. jean crying over peter getting shot, because he was kind and promised to be there for her and made good on that promise immediately, even though she ended up there because of him. new york and their care for spidey.
peter parker and his care for everybody- his family, his friends, people he has never met, people who have continually tried to hurt him.
spiderman: brand new day and the importance of care of any kind.
Reblogged noona96n
”I have this artistic idea but not the skills to achieve it to the standard I want.”
congrats! Now you have a motif! A recurring theme! A focus for your art! Something to haunt you!
Seventeen still lives of dandelions? Three hundred poems about grief? A sketchbook dedicated to your grandmother’s house? Two books trying to unravel the complexities of familial relationships?
Don’t let the fear of it not being perfect on the first try stop you from being Weird About It!
Please view Hokusai's gradual working towards The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, over a period of 39 years.
An early exploration of the themes Hokusai would keep coming back to is Spring in Enoshima, done in 1793 when he was 33. The wave is small and there are no boats, but Mt Fuji is clear in the background, and Enoshima is in Kanagawa, so we are clearly beginning to work towards something here.
A second pass, eleven years later in 1803 when he was 44. The title of this one begins to get more familiar: The View of Honmoku Off Kanazawa. It has a towering wave over a smaller boat, but Mt Fuji is not present, and the boat is considerably larger and has a sail. But the feeling of danger in the wave and the smallness of the boat are here, and of course the general composition is definitely recognizable.
This is A View Of Express Delivery Boats, done in 1805, merely two years later at age 46. Here we find the wave and the boats almost exactly as we'll find them in The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, though Mt Fuji isn't present, and the location is uncertain. And it's a good picture! The wave is threatening, the boats are small -- but the feeling of "ocean" isn't really there yet, is it? It's unlikely this picture would have become a classic for the ages. But that's okay, there's still time.
And here we have it, a full 26 years later, done by Hokusai in 1831 at the age of 72. The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world. The boats are there, the mountain is there, the wave is there, and the FEELING is there. He did it! He reached the apex of his ongoing motif and theme!
Or did he? Because the whole point of a motif is not that you're striving to get to the perfect version of it, the one idealized image you carried in your head all along, and when it is done, you are also done. Hokusai is on record at the age of 73 saying he'd only just begun to feel like he was learning how to draw things properly, and that "if I keep up my efforts, I will have even a better understanding when I was 80 and by 90 will have penetrated to the heart of things. At 100, I may reach a level of divine understanding, and if I live decades beyond that, everything I paint — dot and line — will be alive." He had drawn The Great Wave, but he didn't believe he was finished -- he thought that he was still just beginning to get started.
And he wasn't finished with his ocean motif, either. Please check out his Mt Fuji At Sea, done in 1834 at the age of 75.
It's all there; Mt Fuji, the ocean, the wave. The boats are gone, but replaced with birds, flying with the wave instead of fighting against it. It's not as famous as The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, but that's not what motifs are for -- each successive work does not have to surpass the previous in terms of success, especially in terms of external success. They're there for you to keep playing with, keep remixing and re-experiencing, for as long as you think you have something to say.
Reblogged
“Sarah ended elriel in the bonus.”
Elriel(bonus):
Soft steps padded from under the stair archway, and there she was.
The faelights gilded Elain’s unbound hair, making her glow like the sun at dawn. She halted, her breath catching in her throat.
“I…” He watched her swallow. She clutched a small gift in her hands. “I was coming to leave this on your pile of presents. I forgot to give it to you earlier.”
Lie. Well, the second part was a lie. He didn’t need his shadows to read her tone, the slight tightening of her face. She’d waited until everyone was asleep before venturing back down, where she’d leave her gift amongst his other, opened presents, subtle and unnoticed.
Lysaedion(KoA):
A flash of light, and there she was.
Shining. Lysandra seemed to be shining as she swept a cloak around her bare body, the garment left on a nearby chair for precisely this purpose. Evangeline hurled herself into the shifter’s arms, half sobbing with joy. Evangeline’s shoulders shook, and Lysandra smiled, deeply and warmly, stroking the girl’s head. “You’re well?”
For all the world, the shifter would have seemed calm, serene. But Aedion knew her—knew her moods, her secret tells. Knew that the slight tremor in her words was proof of the raging torrent beneath the beautiful surface.
Why would Sarah include this parallel with an endgame couple from ToG if she wanted to end elriel?
“Azriel’s shadows reacting to Gwyn is romantic”
Bonus:
Her breath curled in front of her mouth, and one of his shadows darted out to dance with it before twirling back to him. Like it heard some silent music.
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.
Hofas:
Irithys’s smile was more subdued as she studied Lidia. The Queen’s flames set Lidia’s own sparking in answer. Dancing over her fingertips, her hair, in joyful recognition. “I sensed the fire in you the moment we met,” the queen said.
The four fire sprites unleashed their power on the war-machines and the Vanir powering them. Lidia’s white-hot flames joined theirs, twining and dancing around it, as if every moment of recognition until now had built toward this, as if her flames had known theirs for millennia.
Bonus:
Azriel dipped his head in a sketch of a bow, something restless in him settling. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch.
Acosf:
Strange—so strange to find her body suddenly … calmed.
“Open your eyes,” Gwyn breathed.
Nesta did. And for the first time in her life, she felt utterly settled in her own skin.
Seems like Az and Gwyn might have similar powers. And Gwyn is shown to have a calming/settling presence with others. Nothing romantic is going on.
“Azriel still likes Mor but also feels entitled to Elain”
Bonus:
“What if the Cauldron was wrong?”
Rhysand blinked. “What of Mor, Az?”
Azriel ignored the question. “The cauldron chose three sisters. Tell me how it’s possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, but the third was given to another.” He had never before dared speak those words aloud.
Rhys’s face drained of color. “You believe you deserve to be her mate?
Az ignores the Mor question. Elain is the only one on his mind. And the “given to another” line is the same one we see in EoS involving a fake mating bond situation, but I won’t get into all that on this post.
Acomaf(feysand):
Azriel thought he didn’t deserve someone like Mor. And I wondered if Rhys … if he somehow felt the same about me.
“I don’t deserve you.”
My heart strained. He meant it—truly felt that way. I stroked his hair again. And I said to him, the words the only sound in the silent, dark city, “We deserve each other. And we deserve to be happy.”
Acomaf(Mor):
“The issue, actually, wouldn’t be me. It’d be him. I could peel off my clothes right in front of him and he wouldn’t move an inch.”
“he’ll see himself as a bastard-born nobody, and not good enough for anybody.”
Bonus:
He knew it was wrong, but there he was, sliding the necklace around her. Letting his scarred fingers touch her immaculate skin. Letting them brush the side of her throat, savouring the velvet soft texture. Elain shivered, and he took a damn long time fastening the clasp.
Notice how Az is able to touch Elain in the bonus even though he still feels unworthy. She’s different from Mor. It’s also clear that someone who sees themself as “not good enough” wouldn’t be the type to feel entitled to someone else. All of this is hinting at what we’ll see with Az in the next books. He’ll learn that he deserves love and Elain will be a part of that journey.
“The end of the bonus is proof Az and Gwyn are mates”
I think Elain Made her necklace unknowingly like @offtorivendell has theorized, and it became a charm similar to the opal in hoeab.
It took hours for Elain to work her charm on the staff.
the amulet tiny enough that it could be dismissed as an everyday charm.
“They’re luck charms,” the magpie said, waving a feathery hand over the tray of gems.
There are so many similarities between quinlar and elriel that support this theory.
“I thank you for the joy it shall bring her.” Something sparked in Azriel’s chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left.
“You could use some joy,” Hunt said quietly. Something bright sparked in her chest. “So could you,” she said, attempting to press the opal back into his palm.
He found Elain’s necklace amid the pile. He pocketed it.
The opal had been stupid. Impulsive. Likely bullshit, but Bryce had pocketed it.
Shahar would have smiled at the opal—and forgotten about it soon after.
She’d have appreciated the gift but, ultimately, let it disappear into a drawer somewhere.
“I’m fairly sure Azriel has a drawer full of daggers I’ve bought him throughout the centuries that he’s too polite to throw away, but won’t ever use.”
“You honestly think he’d ever give up Truth-Teller?”
“He gave it to Elain,” Mor said, admiring the moonstone necklace in the counter’s glass.
“She gave it back,” I amended, failing to block out the image of the black blade piercing through the King of Hybern’s throat. But Elain had given it back—had pressed it into Azriel’s hands after the battle, just as he had pressed it into hers before. And walked away without looking back.
But Hunt paused at the end of the row of stalls and took her hand. He pressed the opal into it, the stone warm from his touch.
Something bright sparked in her chest. “So could you,” she said, attempting to press the opal back into his palm.
She grabbed the white opal from her pocket and hurled it at him.
“BRYCE!” Hunt roared.
She didn’t look back.
We’ve seen Elain bring Az some joy and light in acofas when she gave him the headache powder.
Then Azriel tipped his head back and laughed. I never heard such a sound, deep and joyous.
Azriel mastered himself enough to say “Thank you.” I’d never seen his hazel eyes so bright.
Something similar happens in the bonus.
“I thank you for the joy it shall bring her.”
How Gwyn’s teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace.
The necklace is described as “a thing of secret, lovely beauty” and that line is repeated at the end of the bonus. I believe this was a hint of Elain’s powers being involved.
So my understanding of the bonus is that it’s teasing an elriel romance and some of the powers these characters have. Sarah is not starting or ending a romance in a limited bonus. Everything that happens is connected to the actual books.