#i live in a perpetual state of being slapped across the face with canon elriel

[thundernoblechristine]

I actually attempted to write Elriel fanfic. It connects to my Neris fanfic, but this is a standalone bonus chapter that you don’t need to read in order to understand the Neris fanfic, it’s just a fun extra meant to emphasize things already in the main text

does this remind you of anything

[thundernoblechristine]

Not to be a contrarian here, I’m a fellow Elriel shipper, but the Jurian line about Elain to Lucien is clearly when he’s undercover and when he is revealed to be a good guy he’s respectful as fuck to everyone so I don’t think this is a fair assessment of Lucien’s character here. Lucien would get that Jurian was operating undercover saying stuff he doesn’t mean, which mirrors how TAMLIN was undercover and saying and doing things opposite of his actual opinion

I love Elriel, Elriel is supreme, but also Jurian did nothing wrong

if j*rian made a gang rape joke about elain in front of azriel, he would no longer have a tongue.

instead, he made that joke in front of her mate and now they’re besties living in elain’s ex’s house.

funny how that works.

[thundernoblechristine]

So I don’t know how to promote my own fanfic on here because I have never written or published fanfic, but I spitballed a Neris version of ACOSF not long ago and the scenes have never left my head so here I am writing fanfic.

I hope it is liked!

[thundernoblechristine]

I’m very bad at crossposting here but this one is in reference to a comment I got about an interview where SJM supposedly says Azriel guarantee has a redhead mate? I couldn’t find this interview, so if anyone here can find it, please link me. Either way though, I’d argue the hair color of Azriel’s mate doesn’t mean anything when he’s set up to be chosen by Elain anyway

[thundernoblechristine]

A larger point about the acotar ship war featuring my ACTUAL WEDDING PHOTOS

[thundernoblechristine]

Some thoughts on Az’s shadows and why they don’t mean what some fans think they mean

[thundernoblechristine]

Why elriels don’t need to exaggerate

[thundernoblechristine]

My take on Gwynriel

[thundernoblechristine]

Omg I get into actual debates about this in my IRL book club. They’re like “Nessian’s so romantic even though he never says I love you on the page” but “sit, I’ll take care of it?” CRICKETS, or “he’s babying her. I’m so TIRED of this ship war yall it’s making everyone actively ignore the romance ON THE PAGE

romance was born when Azriel carried the potatoes that is all.

[thundernoblechristine]

I had some thoughts about why you don’t need Elain to get with Lucien in order for her to travel

[thundernoblechristine]

The way I continue to terrorize my IRL book club with my ACOTAR opinions

[thundernoblechristine]

👏👏👏

This is the ship that JUST MAKES SENSE, the narrative structure screams it. It fits both Elain and Azriel, and the motifs surrounding them, intentional or otherwise

Azriel, the "entitled incel" of the Bat Boys

So I started laughing my head off as soon as I typed the title for this post. Because it's honestly so, so ridiculous this is even an argument people are using against Elriel.

Let's take a quick trip down memory lane, because people are calling Azriel entitled because of the following excerpt:

This man, is so desperately obsessed with Elain, that he is questioning his religion, their GOD (The Cauldron) on why the woman he loves was given to another. He is tortured over it, losing sleep thinking about it.

How does that scream entitlement? Is it because he says the "third sister was given to another"? Because Rhys assumes "You believe you deserve to be her mate?"

Azriel did not even consider the possibility of a future with Elain because she already has a mate. Not because he's only lusting after her, but because he is convinced that he will not get the woman he loves. He has such low self-esteem and image issues that he doesn't think himself worthy of even touching her skin, and you think he feels entitled to her?

Or is it the fact that you decided he just wants a mate? Nowhere in this bonus chapter does Azriel say he just wants a mate, btw, so not sure where that argument came from. Also, if Azriel just wanted a mate, why tf would he go for the only mated female in his proximity?

Wouldn't he, I dunno, latch onto any available single lady in Velaris over the mated and now forbidden Elain Archeron? I believe a relevant analogy is:

If I had a group of friends I hung out with, all consisting of married couples, basically, and I was the lone single friend. OF COURSE I WANT WHAT THEY HAVE AND OF COURSE I WANT TO BE MARRIED TOO? But....even if I wanted these things so desperately, my first choice for love would not be the married guy in my friend group, whose wife lives far away. Like, no. That's not who I'm going for first, or second, or ever, even.

So then why is Az only showing feelings for Elain? He's had sexual relationships before, why can't he just find someone else, why is he still obsessed with Elain?

Also, the incel thing is such a joke. Yes, he has romantic, sexual thoughts about Elain. And that somehow...makes him disgusting and toxic?

Are we just choosing to ignore Rhys's thoughts about Feyre? How these two mfs nearly risked their lives from a trauma-bargain because they were too horny to show enough self-restraint to not f*ck in the goddamn sky?? Those poor pedestrians of Velaris.

Are we just choosing to ignore Cassian's thoughts about Nesta? Like literally every other sentence from his POV was about her thin frame and massive tits, for ffs. He was absolutely chafing for her 99% of the day. But no one had a problem with that?

Cassian even stated he's jealous of Rhys, what Rhys has with Feyre, their bond. But we just decided to ignore that little tidbit too, huh?

And I know this entire argument is just performative. Because if Azriel had shown any even mildly romantic thoughts about another *ahem* character, that side would be screaming from the rooftops in joy. That's just a guess though, given how much they reacted from just platonic banter and something about sparky glow glow warmth in the bonus chapter. If you give a mouse a cookie, I guess.

Either way, I actually read the books, so Elriel is the only answer for me.

I mean, I thought it was obvious.

[thundernoblechristine]

Omg as someone who’s been making acotar content on tiktok for awhile now I feel the need to respond to that tiktok like WHAAAAAAAT

That being said though when Cassian goes a whole book without saying “I love you” to Nesta everybody loves it but when Azriel says he’d beg on his knees for a chance to taste Elain everyone loses their minds

Why Azriel does in fact NOT feel entitled to Elain

Tiktok is a scary place. I just saw someone saying that Azriel has been so deprived of love that he clings to the idea of Elain belonging to him. I would like to debunk that because I am tired of people saying Azriel feels entitled to Elain, because that’s just not true at all.

While it is true that Azriel has been deprived of love and doesn’t deem himself deserving of it, that does not prove the “entitlement” theory. We are clearly explained that he cannot sleep because he is plagued by thoughts of her, he is her friend and they understand each other. Despite the lust that he feels for her (like Cassian and Rhys felt for Nes and Feyre), that does not mean that he cannot experience romantic feelings. Now, when he questions the cauldron with Rhys, just like it had been done before, everyone took it as an act of possession, when Azriel was simply confused as to why him and Elain were not real mates. I understood his words this way: he feels a deep connection to Elain and that frustrates him because there is not an answer as to why it was not them who were paired together. He is hurt, pining and confused.

“Azriel needs a therapist not a mate”, if he does then so does the rest of the IC! Let’s not be a hypocrite now. He does not want Elain solely because he wants a mate, he feels something for her and because of that he wishes he had been her mate instead. He cares for her beyond lust and you would’ve known that if you had taken the BC for what it is, an addition to already existing details in the books.

Also, if he felt “entitled” to her, he wouldn’t be thinking of how unworthy he is of her, and we clearly know this because those are his thoughts! He feels like his scarred hands are staining her because he thinks very highly of Elain and very lowly of himself.

Anyway I’m probably missing a few details but feel free to add to this :)

[thundernoblechristine]

Wait but WHAT IS IN THE BOX

wip wednesday 💕

as promised, please see below for a snippet of the follow up to my Under the Weeping Willow fic for this week's wip wednesday because I'm incapable of letting a one-shot stay a one-shot.

If you haven't read Under the Weeping Willow, you can find that here :) Pls note it is 18+ so proceed with caution.

In this next instalment, Azriel makes good on his promise to bring one of Elain's many fantasies to life.

💗💗💗💗💗

One week was all it took for Elain to fully understand why Azriel deserved every bit of the acclaim that came with his title of Torture Master because she was convinced that he was doing everything in his power to make her suffer.

After that night in the garden when he'd pulled her onto his lap and guided her to rock against him until she fell apart in his arms, she'd expected him to make good on his promise to do all sorts of things to and with her - including all the debaucherous fantasies she'd admitted to him.

But Azriel hadn't given in - had only offered her a quiet, knowing smile across the table at breakfast the next morning. Pressed his fingers to the small of her back as they passed by each other in the hallway. A few single stemmed flowers had somehow found their way to her bedside table in the days since but other than that, he'd given her nothing.

Her hope that he'd come seek her out after the sun went down had started to dwindle with each passing day until it was suddenly restored this afternoon, when she'd strolled back into her bed chamber to see a large black box sitting at the foot of her bed - a silky white ribbon wrapped around it, forming an elaborate bow.

Elain stepped forward, immediately spotting the small slip of paper tucked under the ribbon. She reached for it with shaky hands and unfolded the note.

The butterflies that laid dormant in her stomach sprung to life at the first sight of that familiar handwriting.

A couple options for tonight. Surprise me.

[thundernoblechristine]

THANK YOU 100% THIS

can we stop forcing azriel and elain to be mates? can we stop forcing the narrative of elain and lucien as anything more than two acquaintances that don’t want to be tied together by fate? can we instead acknowledge that not all mates have to end up together, and instead can live their lives separately with other people? and promote creating bonds between people out of sheer want and will of each person?

even if the cauldron was “wrong” about elain and lucien being mates, i don’t necessarily want her to be mates (as per the cauldron/whatever external being is out there) with azriel. because that can start the narrative of “elain didn’t choose azriel, an otherworldly being did” and that isn’t fair to either elain or azriel.

they obviously have a bond, a very strong and potent bond that many people around them can see and feel. and while that can be because of anything, it is so much better for each of them and their characters to actually get to make the choice and choose each other. imagine how that would look:

- you’re mated to someone you can’t imagine being with and don’t want to be with and you won’t be forced to be with them because of divine intervention. and instead you choose another and take that power back for yourself.

- you take an interest in someone but they are mated to be with another, and after a long life of never being chosen by anyone, all you want is to be the first pick. and then you are, by the one person you want, who has chosen you over the one the universe wants them to be with.

i can understand not wanting azriel and elain to be together cause that’s “cliche” but do not say you don’t want them to be together because “lucien is elain’s mate and that is who she is supposed to be with” when we clearly have seen and been told otherwise. so you’re saying you want elain to be forced to be with someone over someone she chooses herself.

mates are overrated. simply put. they are, and that is okay! but let’s try and stop pushing a mates agenda on everyone when it isn’t necessary for two people to choose to love each other until the end of time. okay? okay!

[thundernoblechristine]

I’m such a sucker for the Lainey name in fanfic tbh

Elain's Nickname

Hello, fellow Elriel's! It is time to vote! We've collected all the nicknames you submitted for what you think Azriel will call Elain in their book and now it's time to see which one is the most popular! Because Tumblr only allows us 12 options, we've combined a few that were similar in nature. We're excited to see the results! 🌹🗡

We know there are a lot of options, so pick the one you think best fits and then reblog with your other choices or different answers in the tags. 💙🌸🦇