I LOVE the pink theming for the Valkyries 👀😌🤭
🩷⚔️💖
KIROKAZE
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@readerinhidingx
I LOVE the pink theming for the Valkyries 👀😌🤭
🩷⚔️💖
Hello, I'm a moron who just discovered that there are bonus chapters for CC2! And I'm shook?
Bryce CC2 BC Ending:
It was only when she was walking up the steps of the archives that she realized she was still smiling. That all thoughts of the luncheon had faded away.
Hunt had done that for her. She’d never stop being grateful for it—for him. Bryce’s heart tightened and something brighter than starlight filled her veins.
It remained, shimmering and secret, glowing inside her for the rest of the day.
Azriel ACOSF BC Ending:
Something sparked in Azriel's chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left. He could picture it, though, as he ascended the stairs back to the House proper. How Gwyn's teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason... he could see it.
But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the down deep, where it glowed quietly.
A thing of secret, lovely beauty.
Mini Bonus Round:
Bryce - Knowing his gaze was on her, she might have swished her hips a bit. She could have sworn lightning skimmed over her body in answer—and a sensual promise.
Azriel - 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.
Oh how I love being a gwynriel 😭🤭
💖🎶💖
What it Sounds Like: The Valkyries & Musical Imagery
I’ve been seeing a lot of discussions about which characters are associated with musical imagery in ACOTAR. While I was excited to see SJM use 💖🎶💖 in her instagram announcement post, I wasn’t necessarily surprised … and the same goes for the leak which seems to indicate that the title page of ACOTAR 6 labels the text as “A Book in Four Movements” … clearly a poetic use of musical language to illustrate her “one book told in four parts” approach to what’s coming.
There have been a lot of takes about what this might mean. Yes, the mating bond has been described as the music between souls; so perhaps the romantic plots will focus on multiple mated couples in these next installments. Or perhaps we’ll be focusing on characters and a plot which deal directly with music. We already know that Nesta has deep, constitutive ties to music. That thread was woven all throughout her novel. Music is the emotional language of her ACOSF arc, from its beginning to its resolution.
Beyond Nesta, the text has also shown us on page that the other two characters who are specifically tied to music are Azriel and Gwyn. This was made explicit in the most recent ACOTAR book and in SJM’s most recent book (HOFAS). This is where SJM’s clear authorial intention is at most recently.
This is all great, and I love exploring these ideas and hearing others talk about where this might lead as we learn more in the coming months. But there’s one detail that I don’t think is being discussed enough amid all of this:
The musical imagery surrounding the Valkyries as a unit.
Not necessarily Gwyn or Nesta individually (since they both have such clear individual musical imagery associations), but the three Valkyries together as a collective whose formation, bonding, training, survival, and defining moments are consistently and repeatedly described in musical terms.
THE FIRST NOTES: Gwyn’s Voice
Across the hushed, cavernous space, it was easy to hear Gwyn’s soft singing as she flitted from table to table . . . Nesta allowed herself to listen—to savor the pure, sweet voice that rose and fell with sinuous ease.
This is one of the earliest moments between Nesta and Gwyn. They are not yet friends, but Nesta (who is allowing almost nothing to reach her in this point of her story) stops and allows herself to listen. Savors Gwyn’s voice, actually. It seems as if Gwyn’s voice might actually be breaking through Nesta’s armor before anything else does.
Then, as their early acquaintance grows and as Nesta begins to notice Gwyn more, we get this:
Occasionally, Nesta heard a lovely, soaring snippet of song from some distant corner of the library—the sole indicator that Gwyn was near.
I love this. The sole indicator that Gwyn was near.
On the surface, it’s simply a description of the setting and Nesta’s observations. But I’d argue it’s establishing Nesta’s awareness of Gwyn’s presence … her nearness. And it’s registered musically. Before Nesta can even see her, the sound arrives first, because Nesta has now learned to recognize it.
Perhaps this is the beginning of attunement between sisters: one person learning the specific signature of another, but through musical terms.
Basically, what I’m getting at, is that in the early days of what will become a significant bond among these females, music is already the language through which Gwyn reaches Nesta … and in which Nesta allows herself to be reached. The foundation of the Valkyrie sisterhood is being laid here, in song.
THE SECOND MOVEMENT: The Foundation Deepens
By the time Nesta asks about attending the evening service, something has started to shift after the appearance of the ribbon as part of the Valkyries’ training. That foundation, built by early trust and offers of friendship, solidifies when Nesta chooses to be vulnerable about what she needs: music.
“It’s a long story, and not one worth telling, but through it all, I picked taverns and pleasure halls to frequent because of the music. I’ve always loved music.” She braced herself for the damning judgment. But only sorrow filled Gwyn’s face. . . . “The drinking, the males—I don’t miss any of it. But the music … that I miss.” Nesta waved a hand, as if she could banish the vulnerability she’d offered up. . . . “I was hoping you meant it when you said I could come to one of your services. Just so I can hear some music again.”
Nesta braces for judgment; but she gets this instead:
“Your story is worth telling, you know.” . . . “It is. But yes—if you want music, then come to the services. We will be glad to have you. I will be glad to have you.” . . . “Come to the service this evening,” Gwyn said. “Listen to the music.” She squeezed her hand again. “You’ll always be welcome to join me, Nesta.” Nesta hadn’t realized how badly she needed to hear it. She squeezed Gwyn’s hand back.
This is after Nesta stopped to savor Gwyn’s voice in the library, after the ribbon has been set up, and after these females are beginning to understand what they are trying to build together. And Gwyn is showing here that she is unafraid of Nesta and Nesta’s past, and she offers an invitation to Nesta. The bond forming between them strengthens because of this invitation made in music.
Gwyn is offering Nesta an opportunity to hear music, yes. But she’s also offering Nesta the sound of her presence and the knowledge of being welcomed without condition. Nesta hadn’t realized how badly she needed to hear it.
MUSIC-FILLED COMPANIONSHIP: The Bracelets
After Solstice, Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie make friendship bracelets together:
They worked in music-filled companionship, idle chatter bouncing between them, Emerie and Gwyn occasionally laughing at Nesta’s awful workmanship. “Now,” Gwyn said when they were halfway through, “we make wishes for each other.” . . . “Wait,” Nesta said, catching Gwyn’s hand before it could touch the charm. . . . “Let me make a wish for all of us,” she explained, gathering the three charms. A small gift—for the friends who had become like sisters. A chosen family. Like the one Feyre had found for herself.
The Symphonia is playing here and music fills the space while their sisterhood is sealed in it. Nesta gathers all three charms and makes a wish for the three of them: for courage and for finding their way back to each other, no matter what. And then Nesta “could have sworn the coins glowed faintly.”
As we then remember that image of the bonding, and the bracelets, and magic of the charms … we can hold it against this moment, during the Blood Rite:
Emerie shuddered. “The Mother watched over us.” Nesta could have sworn the charms on their bracelets let out a soft, singing hum at that.
The physical symbols of their sisterhood, the objects they made together in music-filled companionship, sing. And not only do they sing, but they sing at the moment of their greatest trial and at the moment the Mother watches over them.
Even the objects representing their bond are musically alive. A super intentional choice, if you ask me.
THE HOUSE SINGS
Although a small detail, it’s one that I didn’t want to gloss over or leave out. The House of Wind … where Nesta lives, where Gwyn lives and works in the library below, where the three Valkyries train together, where they have sleepovers and read romance novels and become sisters … has been transformed.
In fact, Amren even notices it:
Amren’s eyes became lined with silver, a hint of how they had once been. “I went poking about the House when we arrived an hour ago. I saw what you did to this place.” Nesta’s brow furrowed. She hadn’t changed anything. Amren grabbed Nesta under the shoulder, hauling her up. “The House sings. I can hear it in the stone. And when I spoke to it, it answered. Granted, it gave me a pile of romance novels by the end of it, but … you caused this House to come alive, girl.”
The space the Valkyries inhabit together sings. It’s been made musically alive by what is being built within it, by Nesta … and her chosen sisters share in that space with her. We are not shown this happening for any other grouping of characters in the novel. The House of Wind, specifically the place where these women are becoming who they are meant to be, sings.
THE BODY & THE WIND BECOME A SONG
Cassian describes what it feels like when movement is truly right:
But he knew she [Nesta] liked the punches. The kicks. A light shone in her face as her body flowed through the motions, a slingshot of strength all narrowing to a point of impact. He’d always felt that way when he did the movements correctly, like his body and mind and soul had lined up and begun singing.
I love this so much, the idea of body, mind, and soul singing together … especially because SJM returns to this language at a significant moment in the Valkyrie arc in ACOSF.
It is Gwyn who uncovers the history of the Valkyries and brings it to the group. Her research, knowledge, and initiative gives their training a deeper purpose and new direction. And when Nesta proposes combining Valkyrie and Illyrian techniques, something that makes fate seem to sit up and pay attention, what they are reaching for is exactly what Cassian describes above.
And then Gwyn eventually steps up to the ribbon:
Azriel went wholly still, as if he, too, had felt the shift. As if he, too, were aware that far larger forces peered into that training ring as Gwyn moved. Smooth as the Sidra, swift as the wind off the Illyrian Mountains, her entire body working in singing harmony, Gwyn lunged toward the ribbon, twirled, and as she spun, her arm opened up, executing a perfect backhanded slice that cut the winter morning itself. Half the ribbon fluttered to the red stone.
Her entire body working in singing harmony.
This is what Cassian was describing, and this is what alignment of body, mind, and soul produces … it’s not just a technically correct movement that cuts a ribbon, but something that sings. The language that SJM uses here at the moment Gwyn becomes the first Valkyrie reborn is the same language she uses to describe what perfect movement feels like from inside it: articulated by the trainer and embodied by the Valkyrie student.
And then at Ramiel, exhausted, injured, helping each other up a nearly unclimbable mountain, the three Valkyries find it again:
“We’re winning this fucking thing,” Nesta said, bending to grab Gwyn’s legs. Teeth gritted, Nesta hoisted Gwyn onto her back. The muscles in her thighs strained, but held. Her knees did not buckle. Her gaze lay on the terrain ahead. She would not look behind. So Nesta began to climb, Emerie limping beside her. With the wind as their song, Nesta and Emerie found their rhythm. They climbed, squeezing and slitering and hauling their weight. As the males fell behind, like the mountain was silently whispering, Go, go, go.
The wind becomes their song, the mountain whispers, and larger forces are watching and urging them forward. The alignment that Cassian described (body, mind, soul) is here expressed collectively amongst the Valkyries as the three of them find their rhythm together and move as a unit.
SJM doesn’t utilize this language by accident, because it becomes clear that this is the language she has established for what it looks like when the Valkyries are most fully themselves (individually and together) … the body, mind, and soul line up and begin to sing, often times when the Mother or larger forces also seem to be watching them.
FINAL THOUGHTS
SJM uses music as core thematic language of Valkyrie identity: their formation begins in music, their bond is built in music-filled companionship, their physical symbols hum, their home sings, their training sings when it aligns, and the wind is their song. On top of this, their defining moments as Valkyries (the ribbon, Ramiel) are described in musical terms.
So, am I saying that the 💖🎶💖 and the “Book in Four Movements” language is about the Valkyries? Maybe? Yes and No.
What I primarily want to get at is that if we are going to have a conversation about which characters carry musical imagery in ACOTAR, then the Valkyries as a unit deserve to be part of it. The text puts them there repeatedly, deliberately, and at their most significant moments.
I’ve said many times (and I continue to believe) that SJM is not finished with the Valkyries. The amount of careful, deliberate intent put into building this group in ACOSF doesn’t exist to be tidied away as a background detail in future installments, in my opinion.
Why? Because Gwyn returns to the library with her oath at Ramiel deferred and her story’s bowstring pulled back. Emerie becomes the first Illyrian female winner of the Blood Rite. Nesta’s romantic arc may have been completed, but we see in HOFAS that her contributions to the overall story are not over. These are the opposite of conclusions.
Additionally, I’ve argued over and over that the runway has been built for Azriel since ACOFAS and through the crossover material in HOSAB and HOFAS. SJM has been on record how excited she is to tell his story, and she has confirmed that we will hear him sing. He’s ready. And the texts have made it clear that his story intersects with the Valkyries too. So if his story is coming, then it likely will involve these women in some capacity … and how fitting that music imagery is not only tied to Azriel, but to the Valks too. 💖🎶💖
hi friend, can you share where sjm said we can expect Azriel singing in the future :)
e|riels are being messy somewhere aren’t they? That’s usually when yall ask me these questions. Well if one of them is saying Sarah won’t write Azriel singing I’m sorry (not sorry) to tell them they are very wrong.
Azriel and Gwyn together perhaps? 🤭
Happy e/riel gwynriel month gleeriels 🤭 💖🎶💖
Maybe it's time to address some things.
^ You know for a fact that you made that up on the spot and lied to your friends because: a. You have no access to any of my friends no one knows you / b. I don't talk that way or even uttered those words / and c. you're projecting.
...
^ You accused me of creating the womb theory when Elriels made the connection and were discussing it the day after ACOSF came out. I barely used that point in support of my ship, I made an observation and that's about it.
...
^ You accused me of creating Gwynriel, but here are some Elriels posting their live reading updates of ACOSF when it came out, picking up on Gwynriel while they were reading the book and bonus chapter.
So what was the purpose of lying to your friends and followers? Setting a target on someone you want to take down? Riling them up? Having them do the dirty work on your behalf? There's no way around it Nike, you and your clique lied and been lying to fellow Elriels of all people.
...
^ Elainsgirl, who I never even interacted with, casually spread a rumor about me that I acquired an early copy of ACOSF way before release day and then I started to spread lies about Gwynriel as soon as I found out about Gwyn, despite the fact that I dodged the leaks successfully so I had no idea who Gwyn was until I read the ebook on release day (I still have DMs talking with friends about it back then), despite the fact that I read the ebook the day it came out and didn't get my physical copy until 5-7 days later.
...
^ This is an Elr*el commissioner who at the time was new. She reached out to me on Reddit because she liked one of my commission with an artist and she booked that artist for a commission and asked me to help her with ideas for it. I went out of my way to get her references and we had a lovely interaction. I didn't ask who she shipped and it didn't matter to me. But she went out of her way to Elr*els on Facebook group to talk about how scared she was of me, while knowing I was nothing but nice to her, and she pretended she didn't know I was a Gwynriel despite the fact that she follows me on Instagram and I post Gwynriel content on an almost daily basis if not every few days. She got them to dogpile on me for no reason, and then friends informed me of it and I confronted her and blocked her and swore off from interacting with a commissioner if they happen to be an Elriel because of this. I still have our Reddit DMs. I even reposted one of her commissions which got her get thousands of likes while her account was small to support her, I didn't ask for anything in return. She chose clout over honesty.
To add, you mock me for playing "the victim" when none of you would've lasted a month in this fandom if you were subjected to a fraction of what I have. And I didn't touch upon the darker and scarier stuff I have received over the years. This above? Is mild in comparison.
Your relentless threats and harassment is just about the clout chasing competition among you. I'm not even upset because the above speaks for itself, and I'm finding joy and excitement for a book I waited 5+ years for, on the other hand I just feel sorry for you at this point that this is the joyless community you chose to create.
I'm not begging them to stop. I'm not trying to be on common ground with them. They can continue as they are, their reputation precedes them across all platforms anyway. This is just goes on to show they have no problem fabricating something out of nothing.
💖🎶💖
~ 𝚐𝚠𝚢𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚣𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚕 ~
moodboard by @captain-of-the-gwynriel-ship
✨ 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒜𝓏𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓁 𝓉𝓊𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝒸𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈𝓁𝓎 𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒. 𝐵𝓊𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓂𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒹𝑒𝑒𝓅, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝑔𝓁𝑜𝓌𝑒𝒹 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝑒𝓉𝓁𝓎. 𝒜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝒻 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓉, 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎. ✨
AC: dahrkt Commissioned by: @miseryreads
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.
I love how the warmth of Gwyn’s presence effortlessly melting away Azriel’s icy exterior is mirrored in how his shadows are drawn to dance with the air warmed by her breath.
TROPES HAVE LANDED PEOPLE. TROPES HAVE LANDED. Book 6 and Book 7. Fated Mates on both books, and no Forbidden Love. We win. 🤭🥰 My guess would have to be 6 started with Gwynriel, and book 7 continues with Elucien.
Yall see Love Triangle or Forbidden romance, I sure as fuck don’t.
For context, here is the tropes from the previous book.
Why look at this. Book 1 didn’t list fated mates because Tamlin wasn’t Feyre’s mate—but it did include a love triangle. So if Elriel were the one getting these books, wouldn’t love triangle be one of the listed tropes? 🤔
Along with Forbidden romance, like in Feyre’s triology.
Notice that SJM only markets fated mates when the characters in question are mates and endgame ;)
Of course, this is still not official news. But damming evidence.
picrew
💖🎶💖
💖 is timeless
💖🎶💖 is gwynriel
Thank you millennial Sarah for believing in the magic of the emoji 😂
Her latest post:
Her past posts:
Since these “💙🩷” have been making the rounds and people think they scream some ship’s endgame, I thought I would talk about it. I apologize in advance for the size of this post; it seems to have decided that demureness was none of its business.
Sarah usually doesn’t use colored hearts as a spoilers for her endgame couples in her announcement. Also, pink for Elain and blue for Azriel isn’t more than the fandom assigning colors as a collective for certain characters and their adjacency to them. We’ve all done it, even I do it for quotes. But the fact is that it remains fan made.
If you look back on some of her cover announcements, the colored hearts are usually more in line with the book’s cover color. For instance, the Night Court Special Editions: black cover - 🖤
House of Flame and Shadow: orange (ish) cover - 🧡
And Steph (who’s currently with Sarah in Montana for her birthday) practically confirmed this “💙🩷” was about the cover’s color scheme/gradient. (She shut down that nonsense really quickly).
However, what I did find curious is that every time she announces a book, she uses some trio of emoji variation that almost ALWAYS includes this one “💖” or sparks “✨”. And when she does, in that trio, she also includes a little hint about the book’s content or title. Those little trios with the 💖are the true clues. Look at the otters, Hunt’s lightning and the crescent moon for CC:
Yesterday she used this one for Acotar 6 and 7:
“💖🎶💖”.
Now tell me that doesn’t scream “music” or “song” in the titles???
I think Gleeriel is indeed coming home.
So I’ll just leave this here. Is it a reach? Maybe. But I give you full permission to come in this post once the titles/couples are announced and mock me if I’m wrong.
She angled her head, hair shining like molten metal. “Do you sing?” He blinked. It wasn’t every day that people took him by surprise, but… “Why do you ask?”“They call you shadowsinger. Is it because you sing?”“I am a shadowsinger — it’s not a title that someone just made.”She shrugged again, irreverently. Az narrowed his eyes, studying her. “Do you, though?” she pressed. “Sing?”Az couldn’t help his soft chuckle. “Yes.”
So let me get this straight: Gwyn cannot be Azriel’s endgame because, even after he met her, he was still lusting over another woman.
But do they know that Azriel met Elain early in the story, and up until the High Lord’s meeting in ACOWAR (even after that), he was still in love with Mor? So Elain can’t be his endgame either.
See how that argument makes no sense???
Literally Elain was in the same room when Azriel was looking at Mor with such yearning that Feyre had to look away...he was lusting after mor even after meeting elain so ig we can slash elain off of Azriel's endgame contender list..?
Also, I’d like to add that Azriel was still pissed at Helion in ACOSF, where do you think that jealousy is coming from? If he was over Mor, why would this bother him so much if he’s supposedly in love with Elain and down bad for her, like Elriels claim? A male down bad for one female should not warrant this type of reaction, right? Isn't that their logic.
Or how about Azriel interrupting Feyre when she is sharing news of her pregnancy with Nesta, and it’s Feyre who steers the conversation back to Elain, but it was Azriel who could give two shits whether she knew or not, his priority was Mor. See, even their own arguments don’t hold up.
Now, someone quote me on this because it’s been a minute since I read ACOSF from start to finish, but something I’ve noticed that isn’t talked about enough is that after the night of WS, Azriel’s reactions to the mention of Mor’s name stop, (SJM also stops writing anything between Elain and Az after WS) I’m not dumb enough to assume he’s over Mor, there are still issues there to work through, and SJM is going to resolve them before she moves onto Gwyn. This is why it never bothered me that Az and Gwyn are not yet romantically involved, because unlike Elriels, I’d rather he work through his development and truly move past Mor before he starts to pursue or fall in love with Gwyn. And this is also why I know Elain was not his person, because SJM never bothered to give him real growth that would benefit Elain and make him a better male for her. Up until mid-way through ACOSF, before WS happens (chapter 58), he is still reacting to Mor, even though Elriels claim he is down bad for her (clearly not if he has such reaction to Mor)
Before Chapter 58, Azriel’s focus was already subtly shifting but by Chapter 60, after his chest sparked, Azriel’s reactions to Gwyn are given more narrative weight. The text lingers on his reaction and watching her with pride and admiration. There’s emphasis on fate watching. They challenge each other more directly. The banter is more noticeable, with amusement between them.
We know Gwyn and Azriel are not in love, that’s the point, and being saved for their book, but SJM laid the crumbs. And I love that she already started to show Az no longer reacting to Mor’s name in front of people since his chest sparked night of WS.
Can't say that SJM made the effort to stop that for Elain's benefit.