I’m still not over the fact that Xaden abandoned all his intentions of just repressing the crap out of his feelings, flew to Montserrat, and immediately started flirting with Violet just because he didn’t see her for a couple of days and was worried she was getting close to another man, who she’d been nothing but distant towards for weeks.

He is SO dramatic I can’t even 😭

So I keep thinking about this, and today it suddenly dawned on me: of course he doesn’t know how to be chill about this. Violet is the first new person he’s loved since he met his closest friends in childhood. She’s the first person he’s started caring about since he lost every adult who mattered in his world as a teenager. She’s his first love, and how many of us are chill about our first loves *without* such a background of loss? Of course he’s not rational about losing her. He knows what loss is and he can’t bear going through it again.

…wait until he’s a new dad, he’s going to be fucking terrifying.

Why is Violet Sorrengail so hot?

— Xaden Riorson everyday since Parapet

"Lightning cracks, so white it's almost blue, and I throw up my hand to shield my eyes as it strikes the iron chest as though drawn to it. Sparks shower the arena..." Chapter 42, Iron Flame

I'M FREAKING OUT IS THIS EXCERPT REAL??😭😭🫣

the more i re-read of iron flame, the more instances i find of xaden ‘intentions’ riorson reading violet’s mind in full explicit detail, sorry not sorry

the boy knows too much, he’s a liar ✨

ok, call me naive but I’ve been thinking about this and I don’t think Xaden is (intentionally) lying to Violet about his signet.

I think he’s lying to her about something or hiding something from her, but after what went down in Iron Flame, I don’t think it’s this.

For reference, the two random passages that spurred this post last night, among others:

I'm sat Xaden, how did you know? Like of all things, how could you possibly know that her mother told her that when she hadn't for 18 months? How?

How does he know these things? Exactly what she's thinking out of nowhere? No man is that good at reading a woman, not even Xaden Riorson. And I know everyone likes to say it's the bond, but even in Cordyn where she specifically says she blocked their dragon-bond, he knew word for word what her argument with Cat had been...when he was whole floors away 😭

So yeah, I think there was a chop and change at some point in what his abilities were because she realised their relationship couldn't come back from it, or the consistency is shit. That or she is actually intentional and he lied in the heat of the moment because he didn't want to lose her lol

And to be clear (because I know a lot of people don't like the text being analysed 💀) that's not a criticism, I wouldn't dislike that about him, I think it makes it more interesting and I like a morally grey/flawed character. I'm just saying how it reads logically.

.....I'm curious now, what do you think he's hiding? 👀

Now I’m just really confused 😭

Because you are absolutely right, there are so many times when Xaden reads the exact words Violet is thinking, including in the scene she discovers what his signet is. I think there is definitely more to his signet, but whether or not he knows it is what I’m on the fence with.

Xaden is a liar. He would definitely lie for selfish gain, and I love that about him. But I just do not see what he has to gain from lying to Violet about this, not to mention if she finds out he lied about his signet again, after he promised her there wouldn’t be secrets between them, I’m sorry there is no logical way their relationship is recovering from that.

I have absolutely no idea what Xaden is hiding: I’ve seen theories, like it’s to do with his mother, but I just have a feeling there’s something. Rebecca said no more Xaden POV until he stops keeping secrets, and then I’m pretty sure in a different interview she said there wasn’t more Xaden POV in Onyx Storm but idk. Also let’s be real here, it’s them. I refuse to believe they are going to have perfect communication for the next three books.

So yeah. I have no idea what’s going on. I think Rebecca Yarros has dug herself into a hole with this signet that’s going to be very hard to get out of.

the more i re-read of iron flame, the more instances i find of xaden ‘intentions’ riorson reading violet’s mind in full explicit detail, sorry not sorry

the boy knows too much, he’s a liar ✨

ok, call me naive but I’ve been thinking about this and I don’t think Xaden is (intentionally) lying to Violet about his signet.

I think he’s lying to her about something or hiding something from her, but after what went down in Iron Flame, I don’t think it’s this.

nobody tell andarna that violet dressed up as tairn for halloween…🤫

…xaden was even persuaded to dress up as sgaeyl - happy halloween everyone! 🎃🦇 @/rebeccayarros

follow me on instagram! @/illustratinghan

Guys I am sorry but i need to rant, okay? I won't deny that i will be baised as fuck because i hate Catriona Cordella. I can't. stand her.

I am absolutly no one to judge someone for liking certain characters but my problem with people liking Cat is that they make her out to be someone she is not.

She is not this cunning, scheming badass girl. No she is just a. bitch.

Every stunt she pulled had no bigger gain. If she had been such a bitch because she had to, if it was for the safety of her country or because it was somehow threatened, I could have at least respected that.

But the way the attacked Violet over and over again had no bigger purpose other than Cat just acting like a high school mean girl and total bully. Like what was the plan when she showed up at Xaden's door in a see-through nightgown? Did she really believe she could suddenly changes his mind and she had a real chance to seduce Xaden. I admire the self-confidence I guess. Moreover what was the purpose? They no longer needed the engagement to Xaden to ensure the alliance; both sides already work together. So just why? What was the purpose of making Violet down? She was just vindictive and self-absorbing.

"I aM nOt FiGtHinG fOR a MaN BuT A cROwN" Blah blah Honey what crown??? Stop being so full of yourself.

Cat is just pathetic in the way she treated Violet. For things that Violet didn't even have anything to do with! It was Xaden's decision to leave her. It was Navarre's elite who made the decision centuries ago to close the border and keep the existence of the Venin secret. It wasn't Violet's fault that countless Poromiel people died, so why attack only her.

I do not like Cat. I don’t think I will ever like Cat.

Her actions were completely unjustifiable and there is no reason to do what she did to Violet.

Attacking Violet over and over again for no reason other than that she was in a relationship with Xaden. It’s not like he broke up with her to be with Violet. They literally hadn’t even met when Xaden ended the engagement. Don’t start telling me it’s because of Violet’s mother’s actions because again, those are not Violet’s fault and completely out of her control.

“She was promised a crown” yeah bullshit. Like Violet said, Tyrrendor hadn’t had a crown in centuries so what the fuck did Cat think would change now? And is it not within Xaden’s right to break off the engagement if he wants? No one talks about that?? Would you want him to be forced into marriage with a woman who manipulated his emotions and whom he clearly did not want to marry?

Cat is not some smart, badass girl who was wronged by a man. She is simply an awful person. Even Liam didn’t like her. She attacks Violet’s insecurities over and over again, insults her, hurts her, tries to steal her boyfriend from her and yet people are still defending her???

If you like characters like that, that’s fine, but I am begging you don’t defend her actions because she does not deserve it.

Violet Sorrengail and her failed dreams to be a Scribe

We should acknowledge the fact that the goddess mentioned above made numerous sacrifices even before she got to know about everything.

It is no joke when you work hard every single day of your life, hoping to achieve your dreams, and when they are this 🤏 close to you, they're taken away.

Even worse: that was the dream of that one parent who cared for you (atleast from Violet's perspective). That is what that parent spent the last fews years of his life to do. To make sure you excelled in whatever you did.

That requires a whole lot of strength and maturity. That is something we need to focus on more.

It's no wonder why Violet is insecure.

Yes, she is a lightning weilder. But could she control her own powers? No.

Yes, she is hella smart. But 99% of the knowledge she possessed, was it accurate? No.

Yes, she is the kindest person you can find in the Rider's Quadrant. But did that make people think twice before betraying her? No.

People who call her whiny need to wear her shoes before judging her.

PREACH 🛐🛐

Violet Sorrengail's will and integrity > anyone else in FW (and a heck of a lot better than most people irl tbh)

I think people underestimate how hard it must have been for Violet to leave the path as a scribe. Just imagine—you’d trained most of your life for something, something you naturally excelled at, something people around you knew you’d succeed at, all for it to be taken away from you. Violet had no control over being put in the rider’s quadrant—a path she saw as a death sentence.

I also do not understand how it is “whiny” to have insecurities, or to want your SO to tell the truth, or to withhold your trust from someone who (in light of the circumstances at the time) had not earned it.