u/Pretty-Progress671

“More than you know.” 👀 HUH

This exchange will always live rent free in my mind. And the fact that Bryce decidedly ignores this and chooses not to question him further speaks volumes.

The Autumn King clearly knew far more than we ever got to hear from him. We got so many cryptic lines from him that I can’t help thinking they’ll hit differently in the next few books when certain things are finally revealed.

Did he know Hunt was created by the Princes of Hel? Did he know he’s not her true mate? Or did he suspect?

He also tells Bryce that she doesn’t know the true meaning of the sword and dagger prophecy, and that she “knows as little about those blades as she does her true nature.”

Like… what did this man know?! 😭

This clip is exactly how I picture Azriel post HOFAS. Pacing his room in the dark, unable to sleep, dagger in hand.

He got TT back, but I can’t help imagining how antsy he’d still be. Like he expected getting the dagger back would make everything feel right again, but instead, something still feels off.

I’d love it if we saw him unlike his usual self in the next book. Not as composed and not quite the immaculate, quiet shadowsinger. I’d love to see him a little restless, less controlled, maybe a bit snappy without meaning to be. We clearly saw him act out of character around Bryce and I need more of that!!!

(I also can’t stop imagining Elain baking something for everyone in the IC in the colder months, something with a hint of nutmeg in it. The smell hits him, and it just… sets him off. He has no idea why. Cut to this, pacing in the dark, turning Truth Teller over in his hands, unable to figure out what’s wrong with him.)

THE YEARNING POTENTIAL🧎🏼‍♀️🧎🏼‍♀️🧎🏼‍♀️

I remember reading their initial meeting and the line, ‘But the male face that stared through the mists, grave and lethal… it was beautiful, despite the fact that his hazel eyes held no mercy.’ for the first time and having a total lightbulb moment, like, oh. This is why Bryce and Hunt don’t sit right with me. This is why every other Azriel pairing feels like trying to force a square peg into a round hole. None of it fits quite right for me.

It also immediately took me back to Feyre and Rhys’s first meeting at Calanmai. The parallels between those two scenes are so hard to ignore. It seemed so obvious to me, and I can’t imagine it was lost on SJM that this reads like the perfect meet cute, especially when we don’t get one for Brunt!!

The fact that people act like they have to jump through mental hoops just to acknowledge the similarities between their scenes and the scenes of Sarah’s other mated pairs is beyond me. For me, that first meeting hit every marker we’ve all come to know and love from the other couples she’s written. It was such a clear moment of realisation, like, oh… this is exactly where the story has been heading the entire time. Of course. Duh. 🤷‍♀️

(This is also why coming online for the first time and seeing people’s takes on this couple in the wild gave me such a shock. I genuinely couldn’t understand how people “didn’t see it” - and not only that, actively hated the idea of it. It’s wild to me!)

All I’m going to ask is this: what are the chances that every single fated mate pair we see has some form of thread, tether, tie, or physical connection between their souls… except for one (Brunt)? After three damn books, mind you. Even after the parasite issue in Midgard was resolved and their powers were no longer dampened, there is still no mention of it.

The first time we get anything from Bryce that resembles a yank, tug, thread, or pull is when she meets Azriel. When she gets yanked across galaxies and lands at his feet. The last person that happened to was Theia, and we know who she met in the process - her fated mate. And I refuse to believe that’s a coincidence!!!

“—their souls had found each other across galaxies, linking them that fateful day, as if the mating bond between them was indeed some physical thing.“

Ruhn & Lidia:
He visualized the crystal’s milky core. Imagined a thread running from it, down along this mental bridge, out toward another end.

Aelin & Rowan:
Rowan had felt a tug in the bond between him and Aelin — the mating bond.

Nesta & Cassian:
Thread after thread of pure golden light flowed into him, and he met it with his own. / “And I am yours." Those golden threads between their
very souls shone with the words.

Elain & Lucien:
“There’s a bond—it’s a real thread,” he said, more to himself than us. / It felt… strange,” Elain breathed. “Like you pulled on a thread tied to a rib.”

Feyre & Rhysand:
But there was a... thread, a tether. And I yanked on it — and suddenly I could see. Not through my eyes, but — but, his.

Credit for artwork I’ve used in the edit (in order of appearance):
mkviceart
kushinada*
hmmr.art
gabrielleragusi
mageonduty
shartsfarts747
sophia.angelica.art
celestarly
artmaniac.lili*
spearthymint
holyaphordite*
xvssen
palsonart
qwilla.art
painpainbread*

For any new additions from Bryceriel Week, I’ve tagged the original posts above so you can show some love to the artists and commissioners who made them possible🫶🏼

“It’s not about size, it’s about how you use them.” — Hunt Orion Athalar, probably.

art credit in order (all insta handles):
silvverart
theogwhimsicalartist
_julpers
*if anyone knows the artist for the fourth and final image I’d be grateful if you could let me know!*
camillelou_illustration
luciaarandart
cludi_a_
jessdraw.s