update ! it’s currently the month of ramadan which means i’ll typically be around after sunset ( i’m currently in egypt ! ) &&. available only then, typically ! i’ll be back in the states this week, however, so there’ll be low activity even until then ! on a side note, i started reading the grisha trilogy and boy, am i in LOVE.
side note; i have a nesta that is heavily under construction but can be found at pillageddeath!
update ! it’s currently the month of ramadan which means i’ll typically be around after sunset ( i’m currently in egypt ! ) &&. available only then, typically ! i’ll be back in the states this week, however, so there’ll be low activity even until then ! on a side note, i started reading the grisha trilogy and boy, am i in LOVE.
side note; i have a nesta that is heavily under construction but can be found at pillageddeath !
BOLD what applies to your muse.
ITALICIZE what they like / what they would like
SIGHT. small towns. big cities. six thirty curfews. lights that take the place of stars. blanket nests. light through the blinds as a wake-up call. found family. finding a single star in the middle of new york city. window shopping. watching something terrible and enjoying it. growing numb to the sight of injustice. wilted flowers. faded caricatures. bright, bold colors.
HEARING. crickets and lightning bugs. car engines and ac units. a phone call to mom / dad.laughing with friends. jokes that are so bad you have to laugh. the clicking of computer keys.noise canceling headphones. the sound of silence. muffled music from another room. drumming fingertips on a table. the clicking of pens. listening to a clock and swearing the ticks get slower. ringing in the ears. the voice of someone you love. pitch shifted songs.
TOUCH. being held close during a long night. fleeting reassurances. holding hands when you’re scared. brushing fingers through strands of hair. freshly dried clothes. bruises on your knuckles. silk and satin. your favorite pet’s fur / feather. wringing your hands anxiously. snuggles. comforters in the dead of winter. nails against the skin. cold metal. leather in summer.
TASTE. coffee in the morning. tea in the evening. bubblegum that lost its flavor. alcohol burning the back of your throat. homemade cooking no matter what’s made. blood in your mouth. stale air. mint. fresh vegetables. the first meal you cook by yourself that tastes good. foreign sweets. fast food. bittersweet. sour. spicy. sweet. bitter. too much salt on fries.
SMELL. morning glories and honeysuckles. freshly cut grass. hot chocolate in the middle of winter. nail polish. acetone. hospital rooms. smoke. hair spray. your favorite shampoo / conditioner. the scent of home. perfume. cologne. mint. something burning. wet “dogs”. copper. metal. unemptied ashtrays. something familiar yet different.
𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐈𝐌. Living or not, he wanted nothing to do with it. Valg. Even if it was a lingering shadow, there was a piece of them lurking within himself. He can no longer fight off the flashes of the day the glass castle shattered. Chaol is forced to relive seeing his friends faces on the posts he walked past, knowing the torture they’d had to endure before they were brought to their deaths. His stomach churns and even the calming oils and the relaxing movements of her hands can’t draw him out. He remembers the pain, the sound of his scream and how when he came to — he’d believed he had died. He should have died.
He forces himself back, slamming the door shut as her words settle into his thoughts. Brown hues shift in her direction, silently weighing his options before he decides which path to take. ❛ I can’t. ❜ The words are a breathy whisper as he looks away from the healer, taking in a sharp breath as he shifts in his seat. ❛ And even if I could, I’m not sure you would believe it. ❜
she refuses to withdraw at those words, hands still kneading, working away before she meets his gaze. she’d been young doe in this very room a day ago ; unsure &&. unsteady, but today she is a STAG. he will have to brave the mental wounds and face them along with the physical ones for healing is not one or the other but rather both. ❛ we’ve seen or heard of strange things. ❜ she breathes, unable to tear her gaze away. strange things . . . such as the golden-haired stranger who had given her a way out of the hellhole that was INNISH, stating it was because the world needed more healers. she didn’t believe it herself, at times, pausing only once she felt the rub of the familiar paper between calloused fingers. ❛ it wouldn’t make anything less real. ❜ in others words, she’d believe him.
peculiar things had been happening &&. she had the feeling they wouldn’t stop soon, that the arrival of lord westfall with captain faliq was the beginning of far more . . . sinister events. ❛ if you choose to trust me, lord westfall, it will be knowledge that will only stay with me. ❜ the words are said kindly but not softly. as if she recognizes the turmoil, the despair that had surged through him, triggered by memories that she would not understand.
“ Should I worry she’ll have outgrown me the next time I see her? ” A laugh played around the lips of the lady of Perranth, glittering eyes peering at the toddler, grown so much already, peeking around her mother’s skirts at her. It hadn’t felt like three years since she’d hatched that plan, since the two of them, along with Dorian, had stood atop that tower and had healed Erilea from the darkest stain in its history. And yet it had been. The only slight curve of her belly, only faintly visible for any keen eye through the wool of her cloak, a testimony to the time that had passed. The laugh in her heart, on her face, a reminder.
“ I thought I’d come to see the Torre — and you and Chaol, and the little one. ” She’d left Lorcan behind, much to his chagrin, though she’d insisted that her being with child didn’t mean he’d have to practically carry her everywhere. And he, as lord of Perranth, had business to attend to, in her absence.
the sight of elide within the colorful, rambunctious streets of antica is enough to draw out the beginnings of a smile from her, tugging insistently at the corners of her lips. she opens her mouth, perhaps to state that josefin’s ❪ her daughter had been named after her mother &&. it seemed well taken seeing as she possessed the same curls and gleaming eyes ❫ growth only seemed sped up due to the long months she’d spent away from their companions and in the southern continent, before she pauses. at first she drinks in the stance of the Lady of Perranth, eyes gleaming before they flick towards her belly, slightly rounded and telling of what was to come within the upcoming months.
her answering smile is more radiant than the SUN. ❛ and to tell me you’re with child, hm ? to believe that I’ve been unaware for so long . . . ❜ she trails off, shaking her head. one of the downsides of being in the southern continent, it seems, is the delay in receiving news. she loops one arm through elide’s before taking josefin’s hand in her other and guiding the two towards the torre courtyard, where they’d at least be able to bask in the filtered sunlight and swap tales. ❛ chaol is within the palace, tending to business with sartaq. ❜ a lingering look is given behind them, as if she can see past the towering palace walls and well into it’s halls. ❛ which gives us time for us to speak to one another, hear what we’ve missed. you must tell me more about lorcan. ❜
there had perhaps been a time where female friendships had been scarce ; she’d been untrusting and didn’t relish in divulging details about herself, but with elide she feels as if . . . she is simply breathing air. their companionship has always been easy, never something complicated or with lies.
Bristling at the tone she reared, the wolf of the North raised a single brow. “ I won’t let the Bane fight alone. ” Without its general. Even if he’d torn the stitches in his side at the effort, even if he might be swaying on his feet by now, a headache forming behind his left eye, throat parched, and blood staining his side, and the hand with which he applied pressure to what had been courtesy of a valg grunt.
“ So I listened — and then decided not to heed it. ”
❛ the bane won’t- - - doesn’t matter when you could’ve been on death’s door. ❜ she’s gone utterly still, displeasure darkening those otherwise luminous golden-brown eyes. it was hard not to look at how he was near swaying, hand clutching a wound as if to staunch the flow of his blood. she merely shakes her head in exhaustion before gesturing for him to sit. she’s nimble, already across the tent and picking at the numerous tins and crystalline bottles that housed some of the most effective remedies to near anything. ❛ and I won’t lose you. ❜ olgnia. marte. rosana. josefin. towers women, all lost to adarlan. she wouldn’t lose anyone else too ; wouldn’t lose him
a scowl, brows furrowing together before remarkable amber eyes are ALIT with some sort of inner fury - - - foreign, even for her. ❛ you went out and fought in your condition ? ❜ had it been anyone but him her words would have been gentle, laced with the slightest hint of displeasure, maybe . . . but with him, lines had never established, only blurred. ❛ and here I was, thinking you listened. ❜
ted talk 001 : why tower of dawn was PROBLEMATIC asf !
okay ngl as a north african writer i was ecstatic at tower of dawn + how it seemed to promote diversity but now . . . i’m going to say what was wrong with it. first of all , , , why does sjm FAIL to directly address the color of someone’s skin and mark them as PoC ? why tf is everyone GOLDEN TAN ? say they’re a PoC and GO !
second of all, there are various cultures meshed within the book while sarah tries to describe it as if it’s middle eastern. nesryn faliq ( faliq is a standard last name within Levantine countries such as syria, palestine, jordan, &&. lebanon ) is described as south asian perhaps but that’s where any sort of direction ends, save for the name farasha, arabic for butterfly. it would be enough to make me think that this country is middle eastern save for numerous other pointers that make me think it might also have desi ( bengali, pakistani, indian ) influence. it’s problematic that numerous culture are meshed together so that sarah can finally point out that there’s DIVERSITY in her book. if it’s half assed we don’t want it.
third . . . where tf was this energy about diversity anywhere else in the other books ? upsetting ngl
Using the chair is not a punishment. It is not a prison,' he said softly. 'It never was. And I am as much of a man in that chair, or with that cane, as I am standing on my feet.' He brushed away the tear that slipped down her cheek.
'I wanted to heal you,' she breathed.
'You did,' he said, smiling. 'Yrene, in every way that truly matters . . . You did.'
Chaol wiped away the other tears that fell, brushing a kiss to her hot cheek
𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. He was no Lord, he lacked honor. Oathbreaker. Liar. Coward. He deserved this. He deserved to live his life within the confines of that chair that he hated, to never be able to stomach looking into the eyes of guards, of soldiers — all better men than himself, to never be able to stand with his head held high. Further and further he sunk into the shadows of himself, losing grasp of the life around him until the pain of her searching causes the shadows to shutter in around themselves.
There is no disappointment on his features, no waves of crippling shock found rushing through his veins because he knew that coming here might prove him to be right. Chaol draws in another sharp breath, shifting his upper body as she lifts herself away from him. If it weren’t for Nesryn, for Dorian and all those who counted on him — he would have sent her away, would have screamed that this was nothing but a lost cause, that he was nothing but a lost cause. But instead he sat quietly, tensing slightly as her careful hands found the places on his back that had knotted the most.
Relief is short lived as her words brush quietly up against his ear. Blood turns to ice inside of his veins as he tries to calm his features, anything to hide the fear that rooted deep in his gut and had his stomach churning. ❛ Is it inside me? ❜ The words are spoken softly enough so that the prying ears that surround them can’t hear but he can’t stop the terror that clings to every letter.
she stills at his words before resuming, easing away whatever ache lay between his shoulder blades. ❛ it is alive &&. it isn’t. ❜ she admits, refusing to answer his question outright. better to leave him without worry. ❛ more an echo of whatever had struck you. we’ll work around it. ❜ yrene declares firmly yet somewhat comfortingly ; she will not fail her test . . . and as of now , she will not fail the adarlanian lord either. no one, she decides, deserves to fall to such a fate, to succumb to the magic of cruel, forgotten gods and their vile magic.
yet she cannot forget the cold and darkness as it had bit into her, colder than the gap between stars, devoid of light, SMOTHERING her as if it had meant to suffocate her until she had released the damper on her power and let it flare as a warning. until it had shrunk back and she had recoiled. may silba help them all.
she is no longer afraid, that much is certain, but . . . wary. unsure. her head nearly spins at the thought of the sheer amount of research she’d have to conduct tonight, the books she’d have to lug up to her room to pore over when the night was at it’s darkest and she would have to retire. ❛ what was it , lord westfall ? ❜ she repeats firmly, fingers digging in as if to emphasize her question.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 is enough to make him go frigid, teeth brushing against the skin behind his shut lips as brows furrow together and muscles strain. Flashes of memories best left forgotten burst into view and just as quickly as they’d come, Chaol had forced them back into the silent shadows where his shattered heart still beat within his chest. He won’t go down the path that leads to those memories; within the throne room where he’d meant to give his last breath if only to buy them more time. Chaol draws in a sharp breath, allowing the taut silence to fill the room enough that he can feel the pressure of its weight upon his shoulders.
❛ Is it necessary for you to know? ❜ His words are rigged and cold, distant as they fall from his lips. If he’d been smart he would have watched his tongue, chosen his words more carefully in hopes that it might convince her that he was worthy of helping but hatred roiled in his gut and Chaol couldn’t see past that darkness. Another sharp breath is exhaled as he turns his gaze towards her, allowing it to linger for only a moment before turning his attention elsewhere. ❛ Can you fix this? ❜ Brown hues grow distant and each passing moment feels like a lifetime within itself.
not only a man who is unused to seeking help but one who might even despise it. ❛ I have never healed an injury of this . . . ❜ she trails off for a fleeting moment, reforging the light that she possesses before coaxing it into a mold, tendrils that are meant to be tentative in their probing lest they summon something that isn’t entirely of this world. ❛ I have never healed anything inflicted by magic, Lord Westfall. so I make no promises, no guarantees. ❜ the healer from southern fenharrow does not fault him for the tone that now accompanies his words, not when the scars are visible when he speaks ; not only a physical wound but a mental one as well. she would do well to remember that despite his service to the BUTCHER that had slaughtered her people, he had been promised to another royal, the heir himself, &&. that she was to help him in that as well. to accompany him on the path that recovery would require.
slender yet calloused hands are set atop his sunkissed skin before she casts her magic out like a net and delves into the darkness yet again. and when she recoils again, this time on the verge of stumbling to the nearest pot and retching, she rasps. ❛ let me fetch the oils. ❜ she rises, near wobbling with those first initial steps, heading towards the satchel that she had left atop a desk carved of wood that she cannot place. once back she allows a limited amount of the liquid to pool in her palms before rubbing her hands together. once. twice. then she begins on his nape ; and leans forward at the same time, so that prying ears may not hear. if he is as prudent as she suspects, he’ll catch on that the walls have ears. ❛ that magic is not of this world. ❜ she admits before digging her thumbs into his skin. ❛ so you will tell me what it is. ❜
tall, broad-shouldered. whorls of some sort of tattoo etched upon one side of his face, in stark contrast to sunkissed skin. always, from the first moment she’d laid eyes on the fae male, had she felt some sort of . . . calling. not of the human sense, but it was as if silba herself had laid a hand on her shoulder and PUSHED her to him. he possessed some sort of healing magic, that much was evident ; it sang to the light she possessed, as if there were more to learn.
❛ aelin said you possessed knowledge on healing. ❜ amber eyes seek his tentatively, perhaps in an attempt to see if the answers he possesses are of some sort of sacred trade ❪ perhaps their knowledge is guarded zealously &&. not for human knowledge ❫. ❛ if it wouldn’t bother you and you have time, whether it be now or in the future, consider me a student. ❜
for despite the great amount of knowledge she possesses regarding healing, there was still more that she didn’t know - - and she was eager to learn.
❛ what manner of injury is this ? ❜ fingertips brush against the nape of his neck, probing. they trail lower, lower. then still at the splotch atop the base of his spine. her magic ❪ it is light ; blinding. her gift is purity for that is what is achieved when healing - - - to rid the body of what is unwanted. ❫ recoils, near roaring against what lays beneath the surface of an otherwise impassive adarlanian lord. ❛ this is magic I haven’t encountered. ❜
it is darkness, the void, swirling and swallowing what approaches it WHOLE. it is not the darkness of lovers, smothering and warm. it is death ; reeks of carrion and shows nothing but glimpses of the menaces that preyed upon their people in the dark, long forgotten &&. sent by a forgotten god.
❛ were they magic wielders ? was it fire, perhaps ? ❜ she curses herself for not having thought of that possibility - - there were books on injuries from magic in the torre, ones that she had studied herself months ago.
below the cut are all of the throne of glass
verses available for yrene !
gooseberry stained fingers.
she’s taught, instructed. silba had blessed them ; they would not charge those for what had been a gift. herbs are stored, catalogued. textures memorized. she spends eleven years in fenharrow, years where it is only her and her mother, and there is no one else that matters to her more in the world. this verse covers yrene’s life until her mother passes.
fall of magic.
she flits from town to town until she finds her cousin. she is safe. she is warm. she still sees her mother’s eyes in her cousin, cringes at times when the resemblance is near unbearable. she heals. slowly. there are the good days and the bad days. with each passing year she fails to shake off the dreams she has of being a healer, and on her eighteenth she slips out into the star flecked night after leaving a note. she’s going to the torre, and she’s going to be what her mother was. this verse covers her from age eleven to eighteen.
the world needs more healers.
the bread is stale and the soup cold. nothing is fresh in this place. there is no warmth, kindness. the language of the world is cruelty and trading favors for favors. the women often shed their clothes and are rewarded in more food, more pay. it seems that men hold the upper hand and it revolts her, makes her sick. the golden haired women who seeks out trouble is the one who frees her. she should not, will not be caged in. it is her kindness that sets yrene off onto the journey that will change her very life. this verse covers her from her entrance into innish and ends with her arriving to the torre.
crushed gingko &&. stored tinctures.
the halls of the torre are utterly unfamiliar yet as inviting as a mother’s hug. how the halls sing to her, beckoning. oh yrene, here yrene. her marks are high and her hours in the library long, yet she is completely . . . alone. a startling realization for one who is miles &&. miles away from home. a verse that encompasses yrene’s arrival to the torre up until her friendship with princess hasar.
heir apparent of the healer on high.
they stop for her on the streets, weave her name within prayers of gratitude. the woman from fenharrow with golden eyes is the heir apparent of the healer on high. friend to both the wicked princess &&. the prince with bedroom eyes ; how he longs for her and how she denies him. it is no secret that to yearn for an heir of the khaganate is akin to lying with death himself. this verse starts from when yrene becomes acquainted with hasar and ends with chaol’s arrival.
olgnia. marte. rosana. josefin.
she loathes him, she decides. this adarlanian lord that she hasn’t even encountered yet finds herself revolted by ; he must be one of them. they’d purged her village, slaughtered her mother. she did not owe him her magic, the light that filled her veins and was the sole thing that solely belonged to her. it was hers. yet she finds herself going against herself and MEETS him, and perhaps he is not that bad and she cannot fault him for what the previous had done. verse begins with chaol’s arrival and ends with nesryn’s departure.
amongst the dunes and stars.
the right side of his back has far more freckles than the left. he favors his right side. he puts emphasis on the beginning of her name yet says it all slowly ; as if he is savoring the sound of it on his tongue. she is not only healing him --- she is also healing herself, ridding herself of the hatred that plagues her, deciding that nothing can break her and that she is in control of everything. she is no longer the eleven year old from fenharrow and will no longer bear those burdens ; she is yrene towers, heir apparent of the healer on high. verse begins with nesryn’s departure and ends with tower of dawn.
the keep of anielle.
she remembers the steps but can’t recall if it had been her husband who’d told her or his memories that had shown her. war isn’t oncoming but is instead here, at their front gates. the golden haired woman had turned out to be aelin ashryver galathynius, heir to the throne of terrasen, and she is accompanied by the strongest fae male alive. her world is no longer black and white. it’s grey, with many varying shades. verse covers all of kingdom of ash.
josefin.
he says. the daughter has been brought into the world days ago but it already seems as if she is yrene &&. nothing but. they have found peace, to some extent. this verse covers anything after the event of kingdom of ash.