Complementing that thought, I think leaning fully into the twilight inspirations would've served sjm well in the pregnancy plotline.
Instead of making "baby has wings" make the comment Ianthe made in acomaf come into fruition: a high lord and feyre's baby would be incredibly powerful.
But well, a powerful baby will require power to be formed. Here, instead of sucking her life force as Renesmee did to Bella, little Nyx is sucking on Feyre's powers.
Instead of the symptoms of her pregnancy being the classic sickness and boob soreness, slowly her powers weakens --- her mental shields are weak, it takes a lot of energy to winnow or summon fire, gathering shadows produces little result, etc.
They start worrying maybe her magic is fading, maybe she's losing her immortality, maybe it's Nesta's fault! (Bc everybody loves blaming her for everything, this wouldn't be such a crazy idea). And then we go to Madja, Magda, whatever her name is, and we discover alongside the characters that she's pregnant instead of that very underwhelming reveal.
And it's very joyous, yay. Until the powers weakening gets worse and worse, up to the point her healing powers are also gone (explaining why he shields her so aggressively). And then they realize, she can no longer shapeshift and they ALL realize she can't go into her Illyrian form anymore and delivering this winged, fat, and power sucking baby will very likely kill her.
Then comes Rhysand's hunt for answers as it happens in the book. More than just looking for ways to deliver, they're looking for ways for her to retrieve her powers and shapeshift and selfheal again.
Maybe even add some dynamics between Feyre and Nesta, Nes watching herself grow stronger and more powerful while her little sister wastes away (since I'm coming from a twilight comparison, add some Rosalie-like protectiveness that Nesta can't explain born from their blood bond).
Then we approach the climax and we come to the conclusion this labor will kill her bc now her healing has gotten as bad as malnourished human, simple cuts take long to heal and inoffensive bumps bruise her easily, so a C section will proooobably leave her bleeding to death.
BUT we have one last resort that they thought about but didn't want to use it unless there was nooooothing else they could do: reaching out to Tamlin.
Our boy Tamy cannot only shapeshift himself, he can also do it to other people. And if he can turn Andras into a wolf, giving Feyre an Illyrian body would be as easy as breathing. She was the one to think of it first briefly, Rhysand caught it, considered it - neither of them ever forgot where that power of hers came from -, but she has pride as unyielding as a mountain and pushed that off the table.
But Feyre is hours from going into labor, getting worse and worse, so Rhysand puts his pride and anger aside and, in a parallel to the very first book (and also to Edward and Jacob) gets on his knees to beg Tamlin to save her.
(I think the alternative could be Nesta herself coming to that conclusion and her going to Tamlin to ask for help, putting her into the center of the narrative like in the book).
As much as Tamlin despises this arrangement and is gutted by the fact she's having Rhysand's baby, the anger he shows here has more to do with the fact they ever thought he would let Feyre die bc of the resentment he has towards Rhysand and not her, and how that prejudice is hours from costing Feyre and the baby's life.
Ensues a very very dramatic scene of their encounter after so many months after so much hurt. I can almost picture it, him touching her belly, looking her in the eyes and boom, white light, and behind her a spread of her Illyrian wings, glorious.
On top of it, he passes on some life force to her (looking a lot how they did under the mountain to bring her back to life) and she's replenished enough she delivers the baby on her feet with the help of the girls, him no longer present that is.
(For my own amusement, there should also be a scene of Tamlin stumbling upon Lucien, who was also around the house for the birth, afterwards and it's the first time he's seen him in his human form in months. And oh how they drifted apart, how even Lucien's scent changed.)
Beyond that idk, but it probably would have to involve Nesta and the trove but to some other purpose that not Feyre. :)
Rhysand seeing Aelin fall through the sky as some sort of Bad Omen is hilarious to me. Aelin Galathynius would love to hear that she sent an entire continent into a panic. 😂
When Eris is so desperate to nab Nesta as a bride after dancing with her in the Hewn City - I can’t help but wonder if a part of his desperation and willingness to offer Rhysand anything in exchange is his father having had promised him to Brillyn in order to secure their alliance.
i don’t know where to even begin with acosf. the rhetoric about addiction and recovery is so bad. like why is cassian playing nesta’s therapist AND getting sucked off by her? why is he using wilderness therapy (abuse) on her?? also bodily autonomy for women in this book treated so flippantly it’s almost hysterical. you might be thinking hmmm where is sarah going with this? are the males in this story going to have to come to terms with the fact that they treat nesta and feyre like ignorant children who can’t handle the burden of information about their own bodies??? nope! everyone acts like nesta is a psycho bitch for being upset and feyre pretends to be mad but instantly forgives rhys. like the whole book just normalizes the poor treatment female fae receive from their male partners, you know, the thing we spent three fucking books and a short story unpacking.
I don't mind that Feyre decided to have a baby, it made sense for her character development and it presented a good plot and character development opportunity for Nesta. A totally fumbled opportunity though.
Nesta giving her power back to the cauldron when she never wanted it and only took it out of spite wasn't the strongest choice in my opinion.
I recall Nesta training with Amren to build up walls in her mind in order to thwart Hybern in pulling the wall down, but that skill never goes anywhere. I feel like it would have been really smart to have Nesta use her power to build up walls around herself, physically and mentally. Barriers. Walls that would protect her and aid her in pushing people away by keeping daemati out and stopping physical touch she didn't want to feel, only letting the physical barrier down during sex and training (so Cassian wouldn't learn she was actually using the powers she claimed not to want). Because as much as Nesta was upset about feeling nothing, she was also horribly afraid of what those feelings would do to her.
I think this would highten her fight with Amren. If Amren learned she was using her powers she trained her to use to run away from her problems she'd be infuriated.
And when Nesta ultimately had to give up the powers, it would be a real sacrifice. She would give up her shield in order to save Feyre, thus apologizing for her outburst about the pregnancy AND the years of neglect Feyre endured when she was young.
This would also make Nesta gaining the Mother's favor make more sense, as she would actually be committing a maternal act by sacrificing for her younger sister, whom she should have raised. ("Should have" as in she was the older sibling, and Feyre was literally 8, not in the sense she's a woman and was automatically responsible for filling her mother's role). Sure, she had to give up her mortal life, but that was done against her will. Utilizing the power for selfish reasons and then giving it up to save Feyre's life and her dream of being a mother would be the perfect way for Nesta to atone for how poorly she treated Feyre. But without that desire for her to hold on to the power, the sacrifice just feels like a happy ending for a happy endings sake.
Also, side note, the mother rearranging Nesta's anatomy to bear Illyrian children makes more sense than Nesta doing it herself, she definitely wouldn't have been thinking of herself or future children in that moment, but that's whatever.
✨Azriel’s spark in his chest is a red herring- Gwyn is not his mate✨
This is a short summary of theories that have been already previously expanded upon by many people. I will link a few posts at the end, if you wish to explore this topic further.
Summary: Many people conclude that Gwyn must be Azriel’s mate because something sparked in his chest and then an image of her being happy glowed down deep. I say that the entire second half of the bonus chapter as well as the entirety of ACOSF, has glaringly obvious hints that Gwyn has luring, beckoning powers that linger on a person (Specifically Nesta and Az) even if she’s out of the vicinity.
(This doesn’t mean she’s evil, it just means she has lightsinger qualities. It is what it is.)
These powers include:
Having luring, summoning, and beckoning singing abilities. She also glows while she sings.
Her mere presence is alluring and inviting to anyone who is feeling lost. Singing is optional.
People’s powers respond to Gwyn’s magnetism. Most notably Nesta’s and Azriel’s.
Suddenly feeling settled and calm, which is especially weird on certain individuals (cough Nesta cough) who are always snapping at everyone. (I mean Nesta never became angry with Gwyn even after Gwyn told Merrill about the dread trove.)
After a person who is lost has been exposed to her powers, they have a lingering effect that includes but is not limited to:
Wanting to see Gwyn at random times
Thinking about Gwyn at random times
Thinking Gwyn is the best and perfect (you could almost ship Nesta and Gwyn Ngl)
Wanting to shout Gwyn’s name to anyone who wants to hear (again Nesta???)
Thinking about Gwyn’s scent???? (Nesta fr?)
Wanting Gwyn to be happy and doing things that make her happy.
Conclusion: Azriel’s chest sparked after Clotho mentioned how happy it would make Gwyn, which goes perfectly with the apparent powers that she has displayed thus far. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened as per current world-building established rules.
Conclusion 2: We will likely never see that necklace again. We never even heard about Nesta kicking Cassian in the balls ever again.
For More in-depth analyses, check out these posts:
@psychologynerd : here
@silverlinedeyes : here , here, here, here , here , here
There is something powerful to the fact that the “I love you” of A Court of Silver Flames is not Cassian & instead is the Archeron sisters.
… That the first person who replies, "I love you too” to Nesta; a person who has never been able to say I love you, be allowed to love or be safe in that. Let alone have it reciprocated, without being immediately followed by their death (or destruction of some sort). And that that person is her sister; who loved her before & will love her after, who would fight to keep her safe & actually take care of her.
And Feyre finally gets to hear that from her big sister; from the family she thought she never had. It gives a full circle from how she left; feeling out of place among the human world, to end up in Prythian in the first place, she thought she was alone & left out to dry (or more likely freeze to death). To then in her almost end for the family she did find, she is saved by the sister she always had; the one who followed her to the edge of the wall, fought for her & spent days trying to rip into Prythian; to save her no matter the cost, and when the time came she “gave it all back” to pay it.
Feyre loved her, even when Nesta thought she wasn't worthy of it. Nesta loved her even when Feyre thought her sister hated her. And they both finally get to hear it, say it, see it, feel it, know it. They are worthy & they are loved regardless, they have an unconditional family of relatives & found loves. Their story enters a new world, one that is no longer alone. And there's something powerful in THAT as the choice, “I love you”.
+ We all know Cassian LOVES Nesta, even Nesta knows CASSIAN LOVES NESTA!!! It's been shown, thought, practically said (just got cut off)… it would’ve been nice, but it's already known. It didn't need assurance like they did.
