Badass Librarian

the miniature pegasus liked Gwyn best

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

Things Gwyneth Berdara is iconic for that have nothing to do with a man:

Saving the children of Sangravah

Being so much the best researcher in the Night Court’s main library that she was personally assigned by Clotho to be the best scholar’s research assistant

Knowing Nesta had value and worth the moment she first saw her

Overcoming her fears and trauma and becoming the first priestess to sign up for self defense training

Being a badass at that training, with the best flexibility and balance

Introducing the Valkyries to Nesta and a whole future plot of ACOTAR

Having the voice of a literal angel that brought Nesta to tears and also lead her to find the Harp

Writing a whole chapter in the Valkyrie book about them and the work they’re doing

Forging a found sisterhood with Nesta and Emerie that fills their hearts and heals them

Becoming the first new Valkyrie by cutting the ribbon first and changing the whole course of fate

Pushing her sisters to be the first to defeat the unbeatable obstacle course and become the first females to ever qualify for the Illyrian Blood Rite

Overcoming her fears again to go to Nesta in her time of need

Tricking the Illyrians who wanted to kill her friends by watching the beasts’ behavior and using them to set a trap

Fighting to the death for her sisters and being willing to sacrifice her own life to hold the bridge

Choosing the hardest way up the mountain to prove to themselves that they can do it, with an arrow sticking out of her thigh

Winning the Blood Rite and becoming the first non-Illyrian to bear the title of Carynthian

[marcylimmac]

In Sangravah, Gwyn watched her sister be killed and endured that abuse so that those children, especially the girls, would not suffer the same fate as her.

During the Blood Rite, after an arrow struck her leg, she screamed for Emerie and Nesta to cut the bridge's rope so those men wouldn't be able to reach her New Sisters.

And that is why Gwyn is one of my favorite characters.

[trashforazriel]

Commission by @luciensdefenseattorney 💞

[ao3commentoftheday]

Did you know that AO3 allows fics with homicide in them? There’s a whole tag for Major Character Death and even more tags so you can find exactly what kind of character death you want to read. 

Don’t they know that murder is illegal? You just know there are a bunch of homicidal maniacs out there who love to read those stories. They write them, too, in between killing people. 

Anyone can read the stories on AO3! Kids can read them! They’re getting exposed to stabbing, poisoning, even guns! And they’re writing the heroes doing the killing, too! That’s basically telling kids it’s okay to go out and murder their families. It’s promoting violence and encouraging homicide and if we don’t do something about it soon, you’ll be murdered next!

[zoanzon]

[ao3commentoftheday]

The devil came to my house and tried to burn it down, which is why this post exists in the first place.

[cleobel]

To me the “Elain doesn’t even know Azriel’s job is to torture people” argument doesn’t necessarily mean that she will never accept that part of him, it’s that Azriel himself doesn’t trust her to know it and accept him without being disgusted. And again, this doesn’t mean that she can never have a heart to heart with him and reassure him, it’s that as of now canonically that’s one of the many non-said things that they never resolved. And, you get it, this doesn’t mean that they can never talk about them in future books, but it sure makes me scratch my head when I see people claim with all their chests that there is already so much trust and complicity and understanding between them. Wheeeeere.

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

It’s also evidence of exactly how sheltered they all keep Elain.

Azriel is famous. Like, everyone in Prythian has heard of the Night Court’s terrifying spymaster. They know who he is and WHAT he is and what he does, and they are afraid of him. Feyre had no idea, had only heard his and Cassian’s names, and when she reported them back to Tamlin and Lucien they flinched. Gwyn knows him enough by reputation to have paid attention to what *his knife* did during the war. I’m sure he’s in many of their books in the Library.

Additionally the Night Court itself has a reputation everywhere in Prythian. It’s misleading. But what they think they know about the Court of Nightmares is correct in its essentials. And they believe torture is regularly done there. Gleefully. And Azriel is a known member and participant in this court.

What I’m saying is, I think it’s hilarious there’s this fae female who was literally born yesterday that lives in the High Lord of Night’s house, who is kept in such ignorance that she only knows that there are gardens and an emo boy who is a gentleman to her. She doesn’t like the Hewn City because it has bad vibes, but she has no clue what they actually do there. Because no one tells her jack shit.

Azriel is PART of that effort. A love interest should not be.

[sadiegirl2021]

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

I’ve literally never cared one bit about a single cover or title of an ACOTAR book.

Not the design, not the color, not the words, not the icons, not what was or wasn’t on the spine, not how many versions of it there are. None of those things have ever meant jack shit about what’s inside.

Not gonna start caring now.

[jemdeserveslove]

about the music imagery for the mating bonds 💖🎶💖

I'm rereading ACOTAR and it's really interesting that when Feyre first meets Rhys at Calanmai, she keeps saying there's something pulling her towards the hills. And in many ways, as this scene goes, SJM was already doing her mate bond and music connection with the drums Feyre hears.

Of course, the drums are connected to the Calanmai magic, which makes it connected to Tamlin in this particular book. Thst's what we were supposed to think, but then, later, we learn that what truly lured Feyre out of the house was the mating bond. And SJM decided to do that with music imagery:

"A single beat, echoed by two responding calls. Summoning."

"There was a string—a string tied to my gut that pulled me toward those hills, commanding me to go, to hear the faerie drums"

"My heart echoed the drums outside, building into a wilder beat"

"the lure of the drums"

"had the drums not echoed through my bones and that wild voice not beckoned to me"

This keeps repeating throughout the scene and then when she's WITH Rhys:

"The drumming was increasing in tempo, building to a climax I didn’t understand"

We know she understands later ✨The mating bond is the music between souls and SJM wanted to show that early in ACOTAR

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

Wait. A string tied to her gut???

“Visceral!” “Nauseating!” “Absolutely disgusting!”

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

Gwynriels and Eluciens are gonna have to deal with some really wild coping from E/riels after their ship gets absolutely nothing in the last three books.

I keep thinking…

“You’re probably going to buy all these books. But you're going to read through them thinking that you didn’t get your ship because Sarah changed her mind or caved to Gwynriel and Elucien fan pressure or something. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that won't be true. It'll be because you can’t read.”

[catheccino]

Gwynriel Compilation! 🌊⚔️ Clocking in with more fanart in the Gwynriel Factory (im on my knees begging to have a scene of them singing together in the future books pls)

[justwithlu]

Nesta and Elain ending their journeys living at Feyre’s home surrounded by Feyre’s friends that will always side with Feyre over them is not a happily ever after for any of them be serious

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

I will always say that Feyre shipping Elain away from her sacred and rare mate bond and with someone she controls is a very bad thing for Elain.

Feyre started imagining Azriel and Elain together while Elain was still human and happily engaged to Graysen. When Elain and Azriel had been in the same room exactly one time and had had exactly one conversation. While, just to reiterate, Elain was engaged to be married the entire time. The level of disrespect and infantilization of her older sister this shows is pretty extreme. Can you imagine being engaged, making wedding plans, and then meeting your little sister’s friend only to find out she’s plotting to set you up with him?

Additionally, Graysen had done absolutely nothing at that point to indicate he was wrong for Elain! Feyre had never met him. In fact, Nesta told her he loved Elain deeply. Feyre just didn’t like Graysen’s *father.*

Pair that with the fact that she had just gotten the first version of Mor’s story and felt sad for Azriel that Mor likely wouldn’t ever return his affection. Every time she thinks about Azriel after that, she thinks about how sad it is that he loves Mor but that love will always be unrequited. She wanted him to be happy, and she wanted her sister away from her fiancé.

This was not honest well-wishes from Feyre. It was controlling and manipulative thinking. It was from that place that she questioned Elain’s mate bond to Lucien when it materialized. She had different plans for Elain and wanted to know why fate disagreed.

None of this is foreshadowing that Feyre should get what she wants. In fact, the opposite. And really both Elain and Azriel would be really insulted if they knew Feyre was thinking all this and *when* she was thinking it.

Only one person in the universe was literally made to put Elain first before everything. Before himself, before any other relationship, before any outside considerations. That person is Lucien. Her fated mate. That’s what a mate bond IS. Everyone else is making decisions on Elain’s behalf without the benefit of the Mother’s assistance.

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

No romance is “forced love,” that is not a thing.

But so many of the most beloved romance tropes are some kind of version of “forced PROXIMITY.”

Fated mates

Marriage of convenience

Fake dating

Best friend’s sibling

Only one bed

Snowed in

Accidental pregnancy

The story is “stick two characters in an inescapable situation together and watch as they fall in love despite and because of it.” The whole POINT of the book is to watch what happens BECAUSE two people had to figure out a way of coexisting.

The set up is not the ending. But the set up is enjoyed by the audience. We like the tension. We like drama. We don’t want “they met, nothing happened, they fell in love, the end.”

Fated mates is just a magical “forced to work on a group project together and they must pass the class.” The love between mates is NEVER forced. It is always the thing that develops because the bond forces them into proximity. Mates always choose each other.

[kjanon]

Cassian being moved by Gwyn

Not Cassian acknowledging Gwyn leaving the library while he and his MATE were arguing and he was worried about being rejected.

[justwithlu]

“I won’t be reading another Valkyrie book” as if someone is holding you at gunpoint to do that. As if anyone cares if you read the book

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

This fandom is not an airport. No need to announce your departure.

[sadiegirl2021]

💖🎵⚔️

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

She said what she said.

[acourtdelaluna]

"They say, 'I don't want to read about Valkyrie training.'

What I hear is: 'I don't want to read about women who refused to let their trauma define them. Women who chose healing, chose each other, and chose to keep showing up. Women who are preparing for a mission that will test their strength, courage, and growth.'

But if we're being really honest, that's not really the issue.

What some people actually mean is that every page spent with the Valkyries is a page not spent on their favorites.

And that's what should be said outright.

The Valkyries aren't the problem. Their story, their healing, and their journey aren't the problem. The frustration comes from not getting the ship they some readers want.

So let's stop pretending this is about the Valkyries and call it what it is.

Because you're being fucking stupid if you genuinely think the Valkyrie storyline begins and ends with training.

Training in fantasy stories exists for a reason, it leads to action, missions, challenges, and real-world application. We watched Feyre train, and then we watched her put those skills to use. That's how character arcs work.

So if you read ACOSF and thought the Valkyries completing their training was the final destination rather than the foundation for what's coming next, I don't know what to tell you.

SJM didn't spend an entire book building up Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie, have them revive the Valkyrie legacy, survive the Blood Rite, and include a scene where even Fate seemed to be watching them with significance, just for there to be no meaningful payoff afterward.

The Valkyries were presented as something world-changing, not as a side plot meant to disappear the moment ACOSF ended.

Sorry if you can't envision the Valkyries functioning as an actual unit beyond training sequences, but that's a failure of imagination, not evidence that their story is over.

And if every mention of the Valkyries is immediately dismissed as "more training," that says less about the books and more about the reader's inability to recognize setup when it's right in front of them.

[starborn-heir]

Oh, so now, "You're the new ribbon, Az." IS foreshadowing...

For Gwyn trying to kill Azriel?

Y'know, I have to laugh ...

[nymphpriestessvalkyrie]

“You’re probably going to buy all these books. But you're going to read through them thinking that you didn’t get your ship because Sarah caved to Gwynriel and Elucien fan pressure or something. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that won't be true. It'll be because you can’t read.”