cherry

Detail of Castles crumbling being Xaden Riorson's song for @serrendiipty and @caeli0306

"Once, I had an empire in a golden age

I was held up so high, I used to be great

They used to cheer when they saw my face"

The revolution, he helped to rebuild Aretia and was making deals with Poromiel and Navarre.

"Now, I fear I have fallen from grace

And I feel like my castle's crumbling down

And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground"

Now he's venin, which is literally everything he fought against. Therefore, people will call off their deals because he'll be considered untrustworthy.

"And you don't want to know me

I will just let you down

You don't wanna know me now"

Him talking to Violet afterwards because she should be scared of him.

"Once, I was the great hope for a dynasty

Crowds would hang on my words, and they trusted me

Their faith was strong, but I pushed it too far"

He's the leader because he's Fen Riorson's son. Everyone at Basgiath listened when he spoke (eg at the beginning of FW after parapet).

"I held that grudge 'til it tore me apart

Power went to my head, and I couldn't stop

Ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off

And here I sit alone, behind walls of regret

Falling down like promises that I never kept"

He literally pulled power from the earth in order to become venin, and he's gonna push away everyone he loves because of it.

"My foes and friends watch my reign end

I don't know how it could've ended this way

Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor

People look at me like I'm a monster

Now they're screaming at the palace front gates, used to chant my name

Now they're screaming that they hate me

Never wanted you to hate me"

Everyone watches as Xaden can't run the revolution anymore as they have to fight against him. The people of Aretia are probably banging on the doors of Riorson House calling for his death because he betrayed them. But he only did this to save Violet and she may hate him for it.

Fourth Wing Foreshadow Re-Read~

...look there's something just so disarming and adorable about a tall, buff, shadow-wielding trauma boy with a war on his shoulders admitting that his favorite food is chocolate fucking cake.

And then it's a gesture of love. 😭

*goes off to cry quietly in bed for a bit*

decided that my favorite book trope is when the female love interest is in mortal peril and the male main character goes absolutely fucking feral to protect her