#lightsinger

Occasionally, Nesta heard a lovely, soaring snippet of song from some distant corner of the library—the sole indicator that Gwyn was near.

Gwyn nimbly rolled to her feet, grinning so broadly that Nesta was momentarily taken aback by it. The priestess had been pretty in the library, but with that joy, that confidence as she aimed for the three priestesses, she had emerged into a beauty to rival Merrill or Mor.

“A thing of secret, lovely beauty.”

Nesta notes Gwyn’s joy and calls her beautiful. Clotho says Gwyn will feel joy with Gwyn’s necklace and Azriel sees her beauty.

Gwyn fits all three and she Az’s chapter ended with her. Gwyn is Azriel’s “secret, lovely beauty.” They are endgame. Take the L

Do you know how lightsinger are described?

“There are lightsingers: lovely, ethereal beings who will lure you, appearing as friendly faces when you are lost. Only when you’re in their arms will you see their true faces, and they aren’t fair at all. The horror of it is the last thing you see before they drown you in the bog. But they kill for sport, not food.”

The way you are making us right by these anons...nesta noticed all of that with her too? The glow the singing the secret beneath pretty face(hello appearing as friendly faces) and then she is endgame with azriel? I thought nesta noticed all of that too? Why she is not endgsme with nesta?

Is there a reason we are ignoring nesta's power also reacting to her? "in answer"

Is there a reason we ignore she glows when she sings...and nesta goes into some kind of hallucination when gwyn sings? Why do ignore that?

A thing of secret lovely beauty

Secret beneath pretty face = appearing as friendly faces

Lightsingers: lovely ethereal beings...

"she had emerged into a beauty" as if Nesta always describes Gwyn's beauty "out of this word" as it that's the whole point...to draw parallels to this

Would you look at that...IT CHECKS ALL THE BOXES? If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck...if you think it is a pig...it is a pig. And what you are doing is making gwyn into pig bc her being a duck doesnt fit your agenda 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Again...why Nesta and gwyn are not endgame when nesta noticed all of this about her???????

Edited just to use some color and better the text.

Comparisons between Azriel and Nesta regarding Gwyn’s influence:

Azriel- something restless settling in him. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch.

Nesta- Quiet settled around her, as if Gwyn had been a summer storm

Nesta- “open your eyes,” Gwyn breathed. For the first time in her life, she felt utterly settled into her own skin

—

Azriel- he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.

Nesta-The priestess drew up to her full height, which was slightly taller than average for Fae females. A crackling sort of energy buzzed around her, and Nesta’s power grumbled in answer.

—

Azriel- he found himself at the library beneath the House of Wind, standing before Clotho as the clock chimed seven in the evening.

Nesta-Gwyn ignored the look, instead glancing around before lowering her voice. “Have you seen volume seven of Lavinia’s The Great War?” … Nesta didn’t know why she did it. Why she waited until no one was around before she said into the hushed air of the library, “Can you do me a favor? Can you get me volume seven of The Great War?“

Nesta- a bell rang seven times somewhere nearby, echoing through the stones, Each peal was a summons, a call to focus. Everyone rose at the seventh peal. As that seventh bell finished pealing, music erupted. Gwyn sang, chin high, a faint glow seeming to radiate from her.

The amount of times the evening service, the number 7, and how often her voice is overtly described as lulling/beckoning/drawing is also staggering.

Azriel- describing Gwyn when he lands: her coppery-brown hair

Azriel, after her breath released silent music and twirled with his shadows: She angled her head, hair shining like molten metal. "Do you sing?” 

Nesta- seeing Gwyn before she sings: coppery hair shimmering in the dim light

Nesta- seeing Gwyn in the same chapter: Gwyn’s hair seemed to glow brighter with her song, skin radiating a beckoning light. Drawing any listener in.

Gwyn asked Azriel about his singing three times. Even using the words “she pressed,” and that she was opening her mouth to ask more

Her power is luring him. There’s just no question. It’s literally confirmed right there in the text.

Azriel- How Gwyn's teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason... he could see it.

Nesta-Gwyn was probably good at this. Gwyn was good at everything, actually. It didn’t irk her, though. For whatever reason, Nesta wanted to crow about her friend to anyone who’d listen.

Gwyn’s teal eyes would probably light at a pretty necklace. Gwyn is probably good at most things. But it’s a direct comparison again. “For whatever reason…” from Azriel is a dead give away for something being off.

Azriel- Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. (During the 7 in the evening service)

Nesta- Gwyn sang, chin high, a faint glow seeming to radiate from her. (During the 7 in the evening service)

I’ve seen the argument that Gwyn doesn’t start singing at exactly 7, but I really need people to understand writing. SJM needed to emphasis that it was 7 in the evening— when the priestess’s sing. She wasn’t going to say oh it was 7:10 and the clock chimed. That she even chose to forgo that small potential inconsistency is even more evidence of the emphasis on him returning the necklace when Gwyn happens to be singing (Gwyn singing is directly a summons. That’s a written fact in ACOSF.)

Azriel- A thing of secret, lovely beauty.

Nesta- Some secret beneath the pretty face.

Cassian- lightsingers: lovely, ethereal beings who will lure you, appearing as friendly faces when you are lost.

—

“Appearing as friendly faces when you are lost.”

Azriel- To let the frost in his veins match the air around him. Until he felt nothing. Was again nothing at all. He aimed for the training pit, giving in to the need to work off the temptation, the rage and frustration and writhing need.

Nesta- Not that she had anything better to do with her time. Her day. Her life./Whatever calm and quiet she’d managed to capture in her head had dissipated like smoke.

They both ran into Gwyn on the same page.

Also: He lost the snowball fight. Was upset all day long. “Had every intention of returning the necklace.” “Your eyes are sad, shadowsinger.” —-> to end with him smiling about Gwyn (who he explicitly says in the same scene that he wouldn’t go as far as calling her a friend, as in he barely knows her) receiving that very necklace he was so ill over until he got to the library when her service was starting. He just miraculously felt better after picturing her face?

Feyre(acowar)- In the blinding sun off the turquoise water, his shadows were gone, his face stark and clear. More … human than I had ever seen him.

Azriel- Elain sucked in a soft breath that whispered over his skin. His shadows skittered back at the sound. They'd always been prone to vanish when she was around. 

Azriel- His shadows had not warned him./His shadows peered over his wings at her. The young priestess smiled- and Azriel thought it might have been directed at his curious shadows/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./something restless settling in him. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch.  But--sleep. He needed to at least attempt to get some./he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer. 

Earlier in the chapter: sleep, they seemed to whisper in his ear. Sleep.

Later in the chapter: his shadows are distracted by Gwyn, and he reminds himself that he should sleep because his shadows are now blinded by their infatuation with her.

“His shadows had not warned him” is not a good thing. They’re compromised and rendered useless.

Azriel’s interaction with Elain is about him wanting Elain. His shadows skitter back(when he is most human), leaving just the two of them. Azriel’s interaction with Gwyn is to give a hundred examples about his shadows being drawn to her.

The necklace:

The necklace was Elain’s, picked out specifically for Elain, completely embodies her character, which is the entire point of their relationship— that he sees her when no one else does. That they understand each other, which is shown throughout the whole books and then highlighted heavily in their interaction that night. It’s a meaningful line about Elain’s true self.

The line used again is mimicry, feeding off his real feelings and the thing he wants to be happy. That Gwyn is a lightsinger is explicitly spelled out. And just as SJM answered the hints about all of Azriel’s secrets sprinkled throughout ACOSF being about Elain, she then also provides a number of easily identifiable comparisons and more evidence of Gwyn’s powers. She said she planted seeds in ACOSF for the upcoming novel. She planted that Azriel is in pain while yearning for Elain. She planted that Gwyn has a power we don’t fully understand— hints of both of these things were in that bonus chapter. SJM didn’t switch up everything she just wrote in ACOSF and books prior just to then change a drastic part of the series in a bonus chapter no one read. The book will be Elain and Azriel’s for too many reasons to count. So what was the point of Gwyn in the BC? To show her powers, and that Azriel’s shadows can be comprised.

“Secret, lovely beauty” and the description of the necklace is Elain. “Secret, lovely beauty” 2.0 is the planted image of Gwyn by use of her power.

Also, to be clear: I really liked Gwyn in acosf. I think her friendships with both Azriel and Nesta are genuine. I do not think she is manipulative in a bad way, I think she uses her power to soothe others, and also nudge them in the direction of wanting to do things for her. It’s why it’s I think it’s mentioned a million times in the book that she’s half nymph, not a full manipulative lightsinger. I respect it, and like the idea that she can do this. It’s interesting. And it’s not to say her friendship with Nesta is a lie. I think she was genuinely kind to her and wanted to make her feel better, and they became friends because they liked then loved each other. But she did get Nesta to do something for her when they met. And she wants to know about Azriel’s shadowsinging, presumably in relation to her own power, because her questioning him about his singing—ahem—is what her power is. She wants something from him, and her power was working on him by the end of the chapter to make it happen, whether she realized how deeply rooted it got into him or not.

For fun, let’s focus on this single full excerpt:

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 image down deep, where it glowed quietly.  A thing of secret, lovely beauty.

…Hello? Is this thing on?

Azriel’s interaction with Elain was about how he wanted Elain. Azriel’s interaction with Gwyn was about his shadows. So much of their interaction is just about his shadows, which seems so obvious to me? His shadows are not him. And they’re being directly influenced. It’s not an argument for Elain and Azriel’s endgame. It just is.

Elain sucked in a soft breath that whispered over his skin. His shadows skittered back at the sound. They'd always been prone to vanish when she was around.  The golden necklace seemed ordinary -- its chain unremarkable, the amulet tiny enough that it could be dismissed as an everyday charm. It was a small, flat rose fashioned of stained glass, designed so that when held to the light, the true depth of the colors would become visible. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.  “It's beautiful," she whispered, lifting it from the box.

How he physically describes elain in the chapter: making her glow like the sun at dawn./ to bare her long, creamy neck./her immaculate skin./savoring the velvet-soft texture./those perfect lips/How that beautiful face might appear/took every ounce of Azriel's restraint to keep from putting his own teeth there./ his eyes nearly rolled back in his head at the sweet scent. He'd beg on his knees/He nearly groaned with relief and need/Elain's sweet mouth. 

His behavior about Elain in the chapter: she hadn’t brought her mate a present, but she’d gotten Azriel on last year— a headache powder he kept on his nightstand at the house of wind. Not to use, but to look at. Which he’d done every night he’d slept there./what if the cauldron was wrong/ Because her mate had been in the family room and Azriel had needed to stay by the door the whole time because he couldn't stand the sight of it, the scent of their mating bond, and needed to have the option  of leaving if it became too much./ ETC.

He is in love with her. This isn’t meant to even be an Elain and Azriel post, but it needs highlighting that these are his real feelings, and the interaction with Gwyn is built on influence(not talking about their actual conversation, I think that’s just also them just being friendly and getting along) and answers why his thoughts and actions by the end of the chapter don’t make any sense. Obviously I can list a hundred things pertaining to Elain and Azriel’s relationship throughout the books but this about Gwyn’s power and the bonus chapter specifically.

Also, what did Elain get Azriel for solstice? What do sailors in mythology put in their ears to resist siren songs? Earplugs. What happened to Elain in ACOWAR? She was “lured away” by the “Cauldrons siren song.”

Gwyn is a lightsinger, and with no intention to harm. I don’t think one person believes that. She has the most traumatic background I can think of in the series, so that would be an insane development. She is frequently mentioned to have half-genetics and dubious parentage and being part nymph. People can obviously want whoever they want to be together, but I know SJM’s looking at some people who aren’t reading between the lines like “I thought they were supposed to be good at this!”

“I think by the end of acosf you’ll know who the next book is about.”

“I thought it was obvious.”

In conclusion 🤓☝🏼

So this is another moment in HOFAS where the shadows were curious :

The shadows seems to be curious about magic.

This is Nesta and Gw/n first meeting.

There is some sort of energy (magic) around her. It should explain everything about why the shadows were like that with Gw/n. (She probably just lured them with that same power so she wouldn’t be suspected by Azriel’s shadows/himself of being a lightsinger, which are seen as evil. She most likely isn’t evil)

Gwyneth Berdara

I think it would be interesting if Gwynriel were on a little mission together to find something (in the bog?) and for a moment Azriel loses her. It’s fine! He found her again…did he? She’s acting kind of strange…

Not a fan of Gwyn being an actual secret, evil creature. Perhaps it would have been a nice theory if it wasn’t created purely out of spite. I like my idea of a Lightsinger attacking Gwyn to take her form and lure Azriel. That’s what they do in canon, right?

If, Gwyn was into manipulating people, then Merrill wouldn’t be so awful to her.

If, Gwyn was a siren, then wouldn’t all the priestess be under her spell? She does sing for them weekly. Seems like seeing Nesta standing up to Merrill wouldn’t be why they started coming to training. Gwyn could’ve be-spelled them to join in.

If, Gwyn wanted to control people with a song, wouldn’t she have stopped the Hybern attack on Sangravah by singing?

If, Gwyn was an all powerful evil being, why did she take her time finding a monster to attack the blood rite bullies? Why didn’t she just sing them into killing each other?

Gwyn is a Nymph. It’s mentioned several times. Webster defines Nymph as: ‘any of the minor divinities of nature in classical mythology represented as beautiful maidens dwelling in the mountains, forests, trees, and waters.’ Umm, like Sangravah? Located in the mountains between Spring & Autumn courts.

Hell, I’m still hopeful Gwyn was inspired by the Heliades nymphs. They are daughters of Helios (Helion) and Clymene, an Oceanid nymph. Or that Lucien is her father. I’m good with either. But because it’s so clear she belongs in the Night Court, ("Smooth as the Sidra, swift as the wind of the Illyrian Mountains”) I know neither theory will pan out.

No. She didn't. What was really said was this:

So I have a question:

With Azriel being a Shadowsinger, is the Shadowsinger a counterpart of the Lightsingers and does that mean Azriel also has kind of this beast form as well?

You can see Sarah's response. Nowhere does she confirm Gwyn is a lightsinger. She only answers based on the question asked of her.

The E/riels have twisted this as confirmation that Gwyn is a Lightsinger when in reality it's anything but.

I do find it interesting in an Azriel based question she goes "Um, again, I have not written that book so I'm not going to say anything about that."

Azriel is getting his own book you all. It only confirms when she once said she was excited to tell the stories of Azriel, Mor, and Elain.