#elain and cerridwen
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
offtorivendell · 1 year ago
Text
Some Friendly Teasing...
🌸 Elain Archeron Week 2023, Day 2 - Sister and Friend 
Tumblr media
This headcanon/theory is based on a few things:
This brilliant crack theory by @wingedblooms, and the subsequent thoughts reblogged by @ladynightcourt3, which posit that Elain may have shifting powers, and have taken the form of Balthazar in ACOSF's Blood Rite (the OP), as well as the priestess Ananke during Valkyrie training (the reblogs).
This corresponding crack theory by @psychologynerd, which hypothesises that Nuala and Cerridwen may be Roslin and Dierdre, two of the other training priestesses who are frequently seen with Ananke.
I highly recommend reading both theories by these supremely lovely and talented people, they make a lot of sense! But let's go...
Azriel’s presence helped. He now trained the newest recruits, quiet and gentle yet unfaltering, and if she didn’t know better, she’d swear at least two of the priestesses—Roslin and Ilana—sighed every time he walked past. - ACOSF, chapter 40
I can't think of anything more appropriate for a trio of besties than for two of them to tease the third - lightheartedly, of course - when they discover a crush. Now I know the names Roslin and Ilana don't match up exactly with Roslin and Dierdre, but this could be explained by one of a few things:
The wraiths don't always wear the same bodies, and at this point they were Roslin and Ilana.
Only one of the twins, as Roslin, was teasing Elain at this time, and Ilana just has good taste.
Ilana, which means "torch, beautiful, light, bright, shining," is Elain (or she was on this day, instead of Ananke).
In the beginning, Elain thinks she's slick, asking for information about Azriel, like his favourite foods, or whether he has any aversions. Nuala and Cerridwen see through her falsely casual interrogation in an instant. But hey, we all have to start somewhere.
I can just imagine the glee lighting up Nuala and Cerridwen's eyes when they realised for whom Elain was developing feelings. Their boss, of all people! Who they probably know well and have a fairly good relationship with after a few centuries of being his personally trained spies, so I anticipate Azriel will cop his fair share from them in an Elriel book, too.
Nuala may have suggested that Elain train as a way to improve her balance for stealthy walking (if she is Ananke then she was as bad as Nesta initially) and self defence, but she conveniently forgot to warn her that Azriel would be taking the other priestesses through their exercises, not Cassian.
Cue the silent snickers and not-so-subtle looks when his back is turned, and Elain's ever blushing face.
That's something she'll obviously have to work on, pipes in Cerridwen.
Elain doing her best to balance, planting her feet in the dirt, yet still toppling over, only for Cerridwen to accuse her of doing it intentionally when Az is looking the other way, saying that she just wanted Azriel's undivided attention.
And when Elain does finally begin to improve, Nuala will give her a teeny, tiny nudge, just to see if they can get her to falter.
And maybe blush some more. For spy training.
At which point Cerridwen will say, deadpan, that Elain may be great at keeping others' secrets, but she sure as shit wears her own on her face.
I am really and truly hopeful that we'll finally get to see the two spies who masquerade as Rhys' own handmaidens at home and abroad for who they really are, through the eyes of their good friend, Elain, rather than someone who doesn't know them well. I think they'll have a lot of fun together, and we'll also see them all open up about their pasts, and their hopes and dreams for the future.
Tumblr media
@elainarcheronweek
57 notes · View notes
emilyondemand · 4 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
Elain, Nuala, and Cerridwen 🖤🌸🖤
Day 5: Connections
“Elain. . . had found a place, a role here. Tending to the gardens of Feyre’s veritable palace on the river, helping other residents of Velaris restore their own destroyed gardens— she had purpose, and joy, and friends: those two half-wraiths who worked in Rhysand’s household. But those things had always come easily to her sister. Had always made Elain special.” -acosf chap. 3
I am so looking forward to getting to know Elain’s friends Nuala and Cerridwen in her book! They have been such a shadowy presence in the background since book 1 and I can’t wait to find out more about them and the dynamic between them and Elain.
It was such an honor to get the opportunity to work with @mysleepyblue on this piece! The love and care she puts into every detail shines through in her work, Isa took my idea and made it even more beautiful than I could have imagined 🥹❤️
🎨: @mysleepyblue
Commissioned by: me
Characters belong to: @sarahjmaas
For: @elainarcheronweek
Find it on IG here
Likes, comments, saves, shared are always welcomed and appreciated!
Please do not repost without permission
942 notes · View notes
acourtofquietdreamers · 4 months ago
Text
Elain Archeron Week: Home
Tumblr media
“Elain stood between Nuala and Cerridwen at the long worktable. All three of them covered in flour. Some sort of doughy mess on the surface before them. The two handmaiden-spies instantly bowed to Rhys, and Elain—There was a slight sparkle in her brown eyes. As if she’d been enjoying herself with them.”
Art by sara_parrenyo and commissioned by me
In Feyre and Nesta’s journeys, we see them find their sense of belonging through the friends they make and I think the same is true for Elain as she befriends Nuala and Cerridwen. Elain gets that first spark of joy in her eyes as she bakes bread with them after hitting rock bottom in ACOWAR. I think this moment represents the beginning of Elain’s healing journey in her new home and since then, Elain has come so far as she gains confidence and grows bolder in her fae life. She helps the Velaris residents restore their gardens, cooks and gardens for the Inner Circle, and offers to help her proclaimed court in any way she can. It’s even been foreshadowed that she might be taking stealth lessons from Nuala and Cerridwen.
In this piece, I wanted to show a typical activity I could see Elain doing within her home court. I imagine Elain loves sharing what she creates so Elain, Nuala, and Cerridwen are delivering bread they baked together to people in the community. Sara is so talented and captured the joy I wanted this piece to exude so perfectly! Thank you so much for bringing this to life for me 🩵💗
Please do not repost without permission
@elainarcheronweek
283 notes · View notes
l14099l · 3 months ago
Text
Azriel + Elain + Nuala + Cerridwen = Spies of the night court!
Azriel in acowar:
Tumblr media
Elain in acosf:
Tumblr media
+
Tumblr media
art by elisiarin.
106 notes · View notes
oristian · 6 months ago
Text
“Elain and Nuala and Cerridwen are going to be the main trio in the next book.”
Tumblr media
ACOFAS PAGE 150
They are paid to be her friend. While Elain may enjoy their companionship, they are simply doing work for their High Lord. Their relationship is a transactional one. Elain’s book is going to introduce her trio, similarly to how both Feyre and Nesta’s journey went—while we met Emerie before ACOSF, she was merely a very tiny scene. The wraiths are tied to Feyre more than they are tied to Elain and can be compared to Alis and Feyre’s relationship. As Elain is more than likely going to be leaving the Night Court in her book, and the wraiths work under Rhysand and Azriel, Elain will be either linking up with the Band of Exiles, or making completely new friendships.
160 notes · View notes
lizzyrart · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media
Making Feyre’s birthday cake
625 notes · View notes
elrielsgarden · 3 months ago
Text
Elain Archeron Week Recap
Day 5: Connections 🥣
Tumblr media
“Elain stood between Nuala and Cerridwen at the long worktable. all three of them covered in flour. some sort of doughy mess on the surface before them. … there was a slight sparkle in her brown eyes. as if she’d been enjoying herself with them.”
- A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
the moment I saw this prompt I knew I wanted to commission a piece of Elain with Nuala and Cerridwen. I also knew I needed to commission dudledudless for this. this piece depicts that first moment Elain asked the twins to teach her how to bake and cook. isn’t Elain just glowing in this art? i’m in love!
art by dudledudlesss on Instagram
commissioned by bookish.biologist on Instagram (me!)
likes, comments, and shares appreciated!
please do not repost without permission from me!
thank you 🫶
144 notes · View notes
jmoonjones · 6 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Some updates to old drawings and a bonus Archeron sisters doodle!
128 notes · View notes
wingedblooms · 11 months ago
Text
Blooming dreams
Gardeners, I think, dream bigger dreams than emperors. (Mary Cantwell)
This meta is a continuation of my thoughts over the years, but especially the ones expressed in the following links. Please be aware that there are major hofas spoilers in this post and avoid if needed.
Secret, lovely seer / Forbidden secrets
A rose in the thorns / The flower of life
Seer, wise woman, witch / Three sisters witches / Starborn light
Since my first meta, I have been fixated on Elain’s connection to the Mother, Cauldron, and Fate (let's call her Wyrd) and her potential powers, including sight, shapeshifting, and healing. They are all related when you’re talking about Wyrd, though I am not here to say what I have written is what Sarah has planned. This post is more a love letter to Sarah’s mystical and earthy depiction of Elain and what I would love to see in her story based on all the seeds she’s planted (and if there is an actual magical bean seed involved, I’ll love her all the more for it). Thanks especially to @psychologynerd for previewing this fever dream of a post.
I gazed again at that sad, dark house—the place that had been a prison. Elain had said she missed it, and I wondered what she saw when she looked at the cottage. If she beheld not a prison but a shelter—a shelter from a world that had possessed so little good, but she tried to find it anyway, even if it had seemed foolish and useless to me. She had looked at that cottage with hope; I had looked at it with nothing but hatred. And I knew which one of us had been stronger. (acotar)
From the first book in the series, Feyre recognizes that Elain views things differently. She views things that are sad and dark with hope, and that’s why Sarah has called her the quiet dreamer. It’s a strength that sets her apart. I like to think that’s also what the Cauldron—though warped by the Asteri—saw when she was forced into its womb. 
The Cauldron seemed to realize what she’d done, too, as his head thumped onto the mossy ground. That Elain…Elain had defended this thief. Elain, who it had gifted with such powers, found her so lovely it had wanted to give her something…It would not harm Elain, even in its hunt to reclaim what had been taken. (acowar)
@silverlinedeyes and I wondered if it may have recognized Elain as a kindred spirit, some echo of its Mother form. A creator, life-bringer. Were the waters of the Cauldron more like Silba’s Womb—a darkness of creation, sweet and lovely—when Elain was immersed? Or is it possible that when Elain entered its dark womb she viewed it differently than her sister? Did she see a wounded creator to help rather than an enemy to combat? 
Elain’s hopeful perspective might be why it gifted her with such powers, powers that we know allow her to see differently than others. And since it may have enhanced her unique perception, I wonder if it also enhanced her ability to bring life and beauty into the world. As a gardener, Elain is well acquainted with the task of envisioning her garden and then getting her hands dirty to make that vision a reality. Dream and reality are entwined in gardening, just like her Sight.
“She loves to garden. Always loved growing things. Even when we were destitute, she managed to tend a little garden in the warmer months. And when–when our fortune returned, she took to tending and planting the most beautiful gardens you’ve ever seen. Even in Prythian. It drove the servants mad, because they were supposed to do the work and ladies were only meant to clip a rose here and there, but Elain would put on a hat and gloves and kneel in the dirt, weeding. She acted like a purebred lady in every regard but that.” (acowar)  If Elain was a blooming flower in this army camp, then Nesta…she was a freshly forged sword, waiting to draw blood. [...] Nesta stared them all down. Elain kept her focus on the dry, rocky ground. (acowar)  She had no mental shields, no barriers. The gates to her mind…Solid iron, covered in vines of flowers–or it would have been. The blossoms were all sealed, sleeping buds tucked into tangles of leaves and thorns. (acowar) If Elain’s mental gates were those of a sleeping garden, Nesta’s…They belonged to an ancient fortress, sharp and brutal. The sort I imagined they once impaled people upon. (acowar)  “What now?” Elain mused, at last answering my question from moments ago as her attention drifted to the windows facing the sunny street. That smile grew, bright enough that it lit up even Azriel’s shadows across the room. “I would like to build a garden,” she declared. “After all of this…I think the world needs more gardens.” (acowar) 
As we saw in acosf for Nesta—a new type of warrior who forges magical swords and retrieves the Harp from an ancient fortress (the Prison) connected to the Starborn—these descriptions are clearly meant to foreshadow what occurs in the sisters’ stories. While Nesta is a freshly forged sword, Elain is blooming life in Illyria. And what do we learn in hofas? 
“The Cauldron,” Nesta said hours later, pointing to yet another carving on the wall. It indeed showed a giant cauldron, perched atop what seemed to be a barren mountain peak with three stars above it. Azriel halted, angling his head. “That’s Ramiel.” At Bryce’s questioning look, he explained, “A mountain sacred to the Illyrians.”  Bryce nodded to the carving. “What’s the big deal about a cauldron?” [...]  “All life came and comes from it,” Azriel said with something like reverence. “The Mother poured it into this world, and from it, life blossomed.” (hofas)
We receive confirmation that the Cauldron is associated with the sister peaks, as I suspected, and Ramiel in particular as @merymoonbeam has previously suggested. 
Before Bryce could contemplate this further, Silene went on, But my mother and father knew they needed the most valuable of all the Daglan’s weapons. Bryce tensed. This had to be the thing that had given them the edge— The snows around Ramiel parted, revealing a massive bowl of iron at the foot of the monolith. Even through the vision, its presence leaked into the world, a heavy, ominous thing. “The Cauldron,” Nesta said, dread lacing her voice. […] “The Cauldron was of our world, our heritage. But upon arriving here, the Daglan captured it and used their powers to warp it. To turn it from what it had been into something deadlier. No longer just a tool of creation, but of destruction. And the horrors it produced…those, too, my parents would turn to their advantage.”  [...] “They fought the Daglan and won, she went on. Using the Daglan’s own weapons, they destroyed them. Yet my parents did not think to learn the Daglan’s other secrets—they were too weary, too eager to leave the past behind.” (hofas) 
In Forbidden secrets, I theorized that Elain’s powers might allow her to map the secrets of the land in order to heal it and @offtorivendell discussed magical mounds in her theory on reviving dusk. It seems like the Asteri did indeed leave secrets behind, which might explain why certain places continue to be forbidden and barren. But we are given hope that they do not need to remain that way. In hofas, Bryce wakes and wields the land belonging to her Starborn ancestors on the Prison island:
And precisely as Theia had gifted her own power to Silene … perhaps Silene had in turn left that same power here, to be claimed by a future scion. One by one, rapid as shooting stars, the thoughts raced through Bryce. More on instinct than anything else, she dropped to her knees and slammed her hand atop the eight-pointed star. Bryce reached with her mind, through layers of rock and earth—and there it was. Slumbering beneath her. Not firstlight, not as she knew it on Midgard—but raw Fae power from a time before the Drop. The power ascended toward her through the stone, like a glimmering arrow fired into the dark— [...] Like a small sun emerging from the stone itself, a ball of light burst from the floor. A star, twin to the one in Bryce’s chest. Her starlight at last awoke again, as if reaching with shining fingers for that star hovering inches away. With trembling hands, Bryce guided the star to the one gleaming on her chest. Into her body. White light erupted everywhere. Power, uncut and ancient, scorched through her veins. The hair on her head rose. Debris floated upward. She was everywhere and nowhere. She was the evening star and the last rays of color before the dark. Azriel had nearly reached the tunnel. Another flap of his wings and he’d be swallowed by its dark mouth. But at a mere thought from Bryce, stalactites and stalagmites formed, closing in on him. The room became a wolf, its jaws snapping for the winged warrior— The rock had moved for her, as it had for Silene. “Stop him,” she said in a voice that was more like her father’s than anything she’d ever heard come out of her mouth. Azriel swept for the tunnel archway—and slammed into a wall of stone. The exit had sealed. Slowly, he turned, wings rustling. Blood trickled out of his nose from his face-first collision with the rock now in his path. He spread his wings, bracing for a fight. The mountain shook, the chamber with it. Debris fell from the ceiling. Walls began shifting, rock groaning against rock. As if the place this had once been was fighting to emerge from the stone. [...] From far away, she could sense it: the things lurking within the mountain, her mountain. Twisted, wretched creatures. Some had been here since Silene had trapped them. Had been contemplating their escape and revenge all this time. She’d let them out if she restored the mountain to its former glory. And in that moment, the mountain—the island—spoke to her. Alone. It was so alone—it had been waiting all this time. Cold and adrift in this thrashing gray sea. If she could reach out, if she could open her heart to it…it might sing again. Awaken. There was a beating, vibrant heart locked away, far beneath them. If she freed it, the land would rise from its slumber, and such wonders would spring again from its earth— (hofas)
The mountain–Bryce’s mountain–speaks to her, asking her to open her heart to it so it can finally rise from its slumber. Cue internal screaming, my friends, because this language was intentional and it might finally explain Elain’s conversation in this scene: 
She looked away—toward the windows. “I can hear your heart,” she said quietly. He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he said nothing, and drained his tea, even as it burned his mouth. “When I sleep,” she murmured, “I can hear your heart beating through the stone.” She angled her head, as if the city view held some answer. “Can you hear mine?” He wasn’t sure if she truly meant to address him, but he said, “No, lady. I cannot.” (acowar)
Elain’s hearing is a source of concern after she is Made because it is unusually heightened; she hears so many things, usually connected to the nature around her as @silverlinedeyes theorized. Like calls to like, and so she might be able to hear the beating heart of the land around her, even as it slumbers. Perhaps that is why her eyes were drawn to the barren ground in Illyria.
Vesperus, an Asteri trapped in a glass coffin below the Prison, tells us more about the connection between the Cauldron and the land: 
“I am the Evening Star,” Vesperus seethed. Bryce rolled her eyes. “Fine, we’ll call you the Evening Star, too. Happy?” “Is it not fitting?” A wave of long fingers capped in sharp nails. “I drank from the land’s magic, and the land’s magic drank from me.” [...] Vesperus folded her hands in her lap. “A planet that was once green, as this one is.” “And that wasn’t good enough?” “We grew too populous. Wars broke out between the various beings on our world. Some of us saw the changes in the land beginning—rivers run dry, clouds so thick the sun could not pierce them—and left. Our brightest minds found ways to bend the fabric of worlds. To travel between them. Wayfarers, we called them. World-walkers.” [...] “Once we left our home world, our powers began to dim. Too late, we realized that we had been dependent on our land’s inherent magic. The magic in other worlds was not potent enough. Yet we could not find the way back home. Those of us who ventured here found ways to amplify that power, thanks to the gifts of the land. We pooled our power, and imbued those gifts into the Cauldron so that it would work our will. We Made the Trove from it. And then bound the very essence of the Cauldron to the soul of this world.” Solas. “So destroy the Cauldron…” “And you destroy this world. One cannot exist without the other.”
This should come as no surprise because we saw this play out in acowar, but the Cauldron is tied to the soul of their world. The term soul is intentional, and we will return to it in a bit, but I started to wonder in Forbidden secrets about that connection. The influence of Wyrd is especially clear in the sacred peaks, where the Asteri left behind their secrets. Could Elain unravel the Asteri’s magic from the slumbering heart of the earth, and unbind the Cauldron as a result? Or will she need to go to Cretea to retrieve and purify the magic of the Asteri from the Cauldron like a healer would, in body and in spirit? (Hello, Nephelle celebrations, let’s go.) Nothing feels more right than seeing our strong-willed gardener get her hands dirty as she rips out the Asteri from the root, or beating heart, of their world. Sarah may have even hinted at this role for Elain as she describes getting into her mind for her book:
“There was literally ivy everywhere: in the garden beds, wrapped around the trees, crawling up the sides of the house. So I went into this obsessive, I-need-to-rip-out-every-last-strand-of-ivy-before-I-have-this-baby mode. And I remember the entire time I was ripping out the ivy, and trying to get some semblance of order into the garden beds, I just slipped into Elain’s head. Elain is a gardener, and everything I did during those weeks became research for her book. I’m not even joking. Elain’s now going to have dreams about ripping ivy out and the ivy creeping in through the windows to strangle her at night, because let me tell you, that ivy does not want to go.” (Sarah’s interview in acofas) 
English ivy is an aggressive invader and its hosts decline over time before they die. That’s exactly what the Asteri are: aggressive invaders that feed off of their hosts, warping the power of the land for their sole benefit, until it begins to wither away. In hofas, we learn that the Asteri hid their power throughout the land, including at the root of sacred mountains:
Vesperus backed up a half step, hissing at the gleaming weapon. “We hid pockets of our power throughout the lands, in case the vermin should cause … problems. It seems our wisdom did not fail us.”
“There are no such places,” Azriel countered coldly.
“Are there not?” Vesperus grinned broadly, showing all of her too-white teeth. “Have you looked beneath every sacred mountain? At their very roots? The magic draws all sorts of creatures. I can sense them even now, slithering about, gnawing on the magic. My magic. They’re as much vermin as the rest of you.” (hofas)
And we see the moment Bryce discovers that Vesperus has hidden her power in the root of the Prison mountain, which is what sustains her and weakens the land: 
Bryce clutched the Starsword tighter. Its power thudded into her palms like a heartbeat. “But why store your power here? It’s an island—not exactly an easy pit stop.” “There are certain places, girl, that are better suited to hold power than others. Places where the veil between worlds is thin, and magic naturally abounds. Our light thrives in such environments, sustained by the regenerative magic of the land.” She gestured around them. “This island is a thin place—the mists around it declare it so.”  […] “Every world has at least one thin place,” Vesperus drawled. “And there are always certain people more suited to exploit it—to claim its powers, to travel through them to other worlds.” […] “Theia had the gift,” Vesperus said, “but did not understand how to claim the light. I made sure never to reveal how during her training—how she might light up entire worlds, if she wished, if she seized the power to amplify her own. But you, Light-Stealer…She must have passed the gift down to you. And it seems you have learned what she did not.”  Vesperus peered at her bare feet, the rock beneath. “Theia never learned how to access the power I cached beneath my palace. She had no choice but to leave it there, buried in the veins of this mountain. Her loss—and my gain.” Oh gods. There was a fucking firstlight core here, far beneath their feet— (hofas)
These thin places are where ley lines—highways for magic and communication—overlap, allowing travel for those who are suited to it (wayfarers). Starborn and Asteri alike seem to be suited to these places, and have used them to store their power, causing the land around it to wither. 
“Ley lines,” Bryce breathed. Aidas nodded. “These lines are capable of moving magic, but also carrying communications across great distances.” Like those between the Gates of Crescent City, the way she’d spoken to Danika the day she’d made the Drop. “There are ley lines across the whole of the universe. And the planets—like Midgard, like Hel, like the home world of the Fae—atop those lines are joined by time and space and the Void itself. It thins the veils separating us. The Asteri have long chosen worlds that are on the ley lines for that exact purpose. It made it easier to move between them, to colonize those planets. There are certain places on each of these worlds where the most ley lines overlap, and thus the barrier between worlds is at its weakest.” Everything slotted together. “Thin places,” Bryce said with sudden certainty. “Precisely,” Apollion answered for Aidas with an approving nod. “The Northern Rift, the Southern Rift—both lie atop a tremendous knot of ley lines. And while those under Avallen are not as strong, the island is unique as a thin place thanks to the presence of black salt—which ties it to Hel.” “And the mists?” Hunt asked. “What’s the deal with them?” “The mists are a result of the ley lines’ power,” Aidas said. “They’re an indication of a thin place. Hoping to find a ley line strong enough to help her transfer and hide Theia’s power, Helena sent a fleet of Fae with earth magic to scour every misty place they could find on Midgard. When they told her of a place wreathed in mists so thick they could not pierce them, Helena went to investigate. The mists parted for her—as if they had been waiting. She found the small network of caves on Avallen … and the black salt beneath the surface.”
All of the sister peaks thrum with power and are at odds with the land around them. Barren. They might all be thin places, interconnected through ley lines...and hiding a cache of magic in the root (heart) of their souls.
Bryce’s ancestors, separated by the Void, planted clues for those with the gifts and vision to see it.
What had looked like etched seas or rivers of stars now filled in with starlight, became … alive. Moving, cascading, coursing. A secret illustration, only for those with the gifts and vision to see it. (hofas)
A secret carved in stone. What secrets remain under other sacred mountains, such as Ramiel? Is it any coincidence that Enalius, who defended Ramiel, was the owner of Truth-Teller? Or that the Cauldron is depicted there? Who would be equipped with the gifts and vision to uncover those secrets and finally set the soul of the land free, like Bryce? 
“Light blasted up through the blades into her hands, her arms, her heart. Bryce could hear it through her feet, through the stone. The song of the land beneath her. Quiet and old and forgotten, but there. She heard how Avallen had yielded its joy, its bright green lands and skies and flowers, so it might hold the power as it was bid, waiting all this time for someone to unleash it. To free it. […] Helena had bound the soul of this land in magical chains. No more. No more would Bryce allow the Fae to lay claim over anything. “You’re free,” Bryce whispered to Avallen, to the land and the pure, inherent magic beneath it. “Be free.” And it was. (hofas)
Helena bound the soul of Avallen in magical chains. Doesn't that sound like what the Asteri did with the Cauldron and the land? There are so many hints that Elain is set up to address this plot, but the one I find the most compelling is given by the Under-King when he confirms who Wyrd (Urd) is:
The Under-King lounged on a throne beneath a behemoth statue of a figure holding a black metal bowl between her upraised hands. Symbols were carved all over the bowl, continuing down her fingers, her arms, her body. Ithan could only assume it was meant to represent Urd. No other temples ever depicted the goddess, no one even dared—most people claimed that fate was impossible to portray in any one form. But it seemed that the dead, unlike the living, had a vision of her. And those symbols running from the bowl onto her skin…they were like tattoos.” […] “And she,” the Under-King went on, gesturing to that unusual depiction of Urd towering above him, “was not a goddess, but a force that governed worlds. A cauldron of life, brimming with the language of creation. Urd, they call her here—a bastardized version of her true name. Wyrd, we called her in that old world.” (hofas)
Now, doesn't that sound familiar?
Her gaze shifted to the carved wooden rose she’d placed upon the mantel, half-hidden in the shadows beside a figurine of a supple-bodied female, her upraised arms clasping a full moon between them. Some sort of primal goddess—perhaps even the Mother herself. Nesta hadn’t let herself dwell on why she’d felt the need to set the rose there. Why she hadn’t just thrown it in a drawer. (acosf)
The statues are essentially the same and Wyrd has already been described in terms that evoke the Mother, Cauldron, and Fate (Forces That Be). And Nesta just happened to feel the need (fateful tug?) to place Elain’s rose—a symbol of life and joy and beauty—right next to Wyrd, and drew our attention to it again in the final scene of her story. What do you want to bet that Wyrd, the Stone Mother, gave her favorite gardener the gifts and vision she needs to make her dream of building more gardens, of breathing life and beauty into the land, a reality?
Sarah has confirmed that the main female characters in her books are helped by others, usually a love interest and friends. So who might be foreshadowed to help Elain?
I dragged a hand over my face before going to Elain and touching her too-bony shoulder. “Can I set you up in the garden? The herbs you planted are coming in nicely.”  “I can help her,” said Azriel, stepping to the table as Elain silently rose. No shadows at his ear, no darkness ringing his fingers as he extended a hand. (acowar)  - “I’ll help you,” Nesta offered.  But Elain shook her head. “Nuala and Cerridwen will help me.”  Then she was gone–shoulders a little squarer.  - It was three by the time the others went to bed. [...] Azriel and Elain remained in the sitting room, my sister showing him the plans she’d sketched to expand the garden in the back of the town house, using the seeds and tools my family had given her tonight. (acofas)
It’s no coincidence that the characters closest to Elain possess unique powers that complement her own and relate specifically to the elements of Stone Mother. Azriel learned to speak the language of shadow and wind and stone, while the half-wraith twins are nothing but shadow and mist, able to walk through walls, stone as @psychee92 discusses here. Their magic likely thrives in thin parts of the world. It also isn't a coincidence that Nesta noticed and wondered this:  
“You came,” Elain said behind her, and Nesta started, not having heard her sister approach. She scanned Elain from head to toe, wondering if she’d been taking lessons in stealth either from Azriel or the two half-wraiths she called friends. (acosf) 
Their beautiful, wraith-like team has the gifts necessary to traverse the slumbering heart of the earth as easily as foreign courts, which is a hard combination to find and is uniquely suited for Elain’s mission to release the Cauldron and land from the magical chains of the Asteri. Especially since we learn that Bryce uses both blades of the Starborn to free Avallen from its magical chains:
On an exhale, she plunged the weapons into the slits in the eight-pointed star. The small one for the knife. The larger one for the sword.
And like a key turning in a lock, they released what lay beneath. (hofas)
They even help Bryce rid the land of the Asteri and their core of power, creating a larger void to devour the one the Asteri set in place. Back in acowar, as many have noticed, Sarah already planted this moment between Azriel and Elain:
I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection…that knife. (acowar)
She and Azriel seem to represent the balance of light and dark in the Starsword and Truth-Teller, as @merymoonbeam theorized. The Starborn blade—the one belonging to Enalius—is a bridge of connection between them. Bryce leaves the Starsword (Gwydion) and Truth-Teller with Nesta, encouraging her to learn about her connection to the Starborn (eight-pointed star). That might mean the Archeron Starborn connection may happen after all. I could see Elain wielding those blades when needed, activating their magic as she seemed to do with Truth-Teller, to release the land from its magical chains. It would also be interesting if Elain and Azriel functioned like the Made blades themselves, releasing the Asteri’s chains with their own blend of raw magic, and watching joyously as life blooms in earnest again.
Once they remove the magical chains of the Asteri—on the land and their sacred Cauldron—perhaps we’ll also discover what exists between Elain and Azriel at last: 
Elain sat silently at one of the wrought-iron tables, a cup of tea before her. Azriel was sprawled on the chaise longue across the gray stones, sunning his wings and reading what looked to be a stack of reports–likely information on the Autumn Court that he planned to present to Rhys once he’d sorted through it all. Already dressed for the Hewn City–the brutal, beautiful armor so at odds with the lovely garden. And my sister sitting within it. 
“Why not make them mates?” I mused. “Why Lucien?” 
“I’d keep that question from Lucien.” 
“I’m serious.” I turned toward him and crossed my arms. “What decides it? Who decides it?” 
Rhys straightened his lapels before plucking an invisible piece of lint from them. “Fate, the Mother, the Cauldron’s swirling eddies…” (acowar)
@silverlinedeyes, @offtorivendell, @elriell and others have written extensively about mating bonds, so I won’t discuss that in depth here. Essentially, Feysand and Nessian appear to have bonds that are true in spirit, and they are described as living threads of pure golden light between their souls. 
Thread after thread of pure golden light flowed into him, and he met it with his own. Where those threads wove together, life glowed like starfire, and she had never seen anything more beautiful, felt anything more beautiful. (acosf) 
This living light reminds me of the dawn, which is associated with healing and new beginnings. When Feysand and Nessian bind their souls together in these scenes, the dawn is invoked each time: 
Feysand
…I was his and he was mine, and we were the beginning and middle and end. We were a song that had been sung from the very first ember of light in the world. (acomaf)
Nessian
Cassian roared as he came, and the sound was the summons of a hunt, a symphony, a single clear horn playing as dawn broke over the world. (acosf)
And when Azriel first sees Elain in his bonus chapter, her hair is unbound and she appears like the dawn, gilded in living light on the longest night of the year. 
Soft steps padded from under the stair archway, and there she was.
The Faelights gilded Elain’s unbound hair, making her glow like the sun at dawn. (Azriel’s bonus chapter)
Is it possible that, with Elain’s connection to Wyrd and the land, her own threads of life are similarly chained, or warped? Perhaps when Elain clears away the Asteri’s power, we will finally see the truth blooming between them: threads of golden light twining together in an endless, earthy melody.
225 notes · View notes
nikethestatue · 7 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
Elain and the twins
Art: mageonduty
124 notes · View notes
duskcowboy · 1 year ago
Text
🌸💗 Totally Spies of the Night Court 🌸💗
Tumblr media
@elainarcheronweek Day 2 | Sister and Friend
♡ 🎨 by @/carasalexandra on insta ♡
♡ commissioned by me, @cateyesinlove and @starswhogaze ♡
512 notes · View notes
ater-love · 2 months ago
Text
Nuala and Cerridwen were the ones who made Elain smile again, helped her adjust to her new world and made her passionate about something new.
They are a very important part of Elain’s story and they aren’t leaving her side
54 notes · View notes
devi1sange1 · 4 months ago
Text
Day 5: Connections
These girlies are going to be serving piping hot tea in Elain’s book and I am so ready☕️🫖
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
@elainarcheronweek
71 notes · View notes
greenleaf777 · 4 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
Elain Archeron week day 5 Connections
Acosf quote “(Elain) had found a place, a role here. Tending to the gardens of Feyres veritable palace in the river, helping other residents of Velaris restore their own destroyed gardens. She had purpose and joy and friends. Those two half wraiths that worked in Rhysand’s household but those things had always come easily to her sister.”
Hearing that Elain was finding joy and purpsoe and connection in the Night Court makes me so happy and I cannot wait to read more about them in her book. Especially the connections she made with Nuala and Cerridwen.
@elainarcheronweek
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
59 notes · View notes
elrieldreamer · 4 months ago
Text
Antis trying to downplay Elain’s friendship with Nuala and Cerridwen while simultaneously expecting her to become besties with Jurian and Vassa will never not be pathetic. They’re just jealous that Elain chooses to share her time and passions with the wraiths and Azriel instead of her ✨mate✨, his girlfriend, and one of the shadiest characters in the series.
Sorry that she doesn’t OWE your boy her time or affections, but CHOOSES to share them with the ones she feels seen by. The twins who helped her reignite old, and find new, passions in the faerie realm, and the male who ACTIVELY pulled her from the darkness in multiple ways instead of asking others to do it for him. The same male who has gone from a dear companion to the one that she now wants panting on top of her. 🤷🏼‍♀️
66 notes · View notes
amethystblooms · 4 months ago
Text
🌸Elain Week. Day Five:
C o n n e c t i o n s
Elain stood between Nuala and Cerridwen at the long worktable. All three of them covered in flour. Some sort of doughy mess on the surface before them. The two handmaiden-spies instantly bowed to Rhys, and Elain— There was a slight sparkle in her brown eyes. As if she’d been enjoying herself with them. >a court of wings and ruin, ch. 40<
Elain’s voice was colder than usual. I glanced at Nuala and Cerridwen, the latter giving me a shake of her head as if to say, Not a good day for her. .. In silence, we worked, then set about filling the platters with the food Nuala and Cerridwen signaled was ready, their shadows veiling them more than usual. To grant us some sense of privacy. I threw them a look of gratitude, but they both shook their heads. No thanks necessary. They’d spent more time with Elain than even I had. They understood her moods, what she sometimes needed. >a court of frost and starlight, ch. 12<
Especially for what they’d done for my sister. The companionship, the purpose, the small sense of normalcy in that kitchen. She’d bought them those cozy, fuzzy blankets from the weaver, one raspberry pink and the other lilac. >a court of frost and starlight, ch. 17<
Tumblr media
photo credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVx5TzovvLH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 🤍
──────────────────
@elainarcheronweek 🤍
i'm not sure if i will ever be able to find the words that could possibly express how much i love the friendship elain shares with nuala and cerridwen.
they have supported elain throughout her journey, been there for her since the beginning, and their friendship has blossomed into something so simple, but it’s beautiful and so wholesome.
the connection they share is something we have yet to see more of and i can’t wait!
and if done well, sarah has the potential to write the best friendship trio in this series. these beautiful ladies deserve it! 🤍
54 notes · View notes