#pro elriel

[shadowedpetals]

I'm so tired of people misinterpret his question 😩🌸🦇

I think there is a misunderstanding :

Azriel doesn’t think that Elain SHOULD BE his mate.

Azriel thinks that Elain IS his mate.

That’s why he questioned the Cauldron.

And I think some people interpreted it the same way as Rhysand—that is, they think Azriel just wants to be Elain’s mate because he should be or deserves to be.

« You believe you deserve to be her mate ? »

But it’s understandable for Rhysand to think that way because he doesn’t know Azriel’s secrets like Nesta does. He doesn’t know that Azriel can’t stand the bond between Elain and Lucien or that Azriel is no longer interested in Mor. However, readers are supposed to know this from the books and the bonus chapter.

Rhysand also thinks this way (that Azriel believes he deserves to be Elain’s mate) because, for him, it’s unthinkable—even impossible—that Elain could have two mates. He witnessed the bond forming between Elain and Lucien; she already has a mate. She can’t have another one. That has never happened in the history of mates. So, he doesn’t even consider what Azriel believes, because it’s unheard of in history for someone to have two mates. For Rhysand, Azriel must simply mean he feels he deserves to be in Lucien’s place.

So, because Rhysand doesn’t have all the information about Azriel’s secrets (the whole BC chapter exposed his secrets) and because the idea of Elain having two mates is unimaginable (since, again, Rhysand was there when Lucien said to Elain, ‘You are my mate’), Rhysand assumes that Azriel means he should or deserves to be Elain’s mate instead of Lucien.

But no. Azriel believes he is Elain’s mate.

I think this misunderstanding between Rhysand and Azriel has also extended to the fandom. (Which is understandable for Rhysand because, as I said, officially in the books, only Nesta knows Azriel’s secrets, she’s the only one who knows why he was at the door and the only one who knows he’s interested in her sister and not Mor)

For Rhysand, it’s weird because for him Azriel is still in love with Mor « what of Mor, Az ? » So what’s happening is so sudden for Rhysand. Because Azriel and Elain don’t even see each other often anymore, since Azriel avoids the dinners, avoids Elain and stays in the House of Wind, but anyway, his secrets are explained in the bonus chapter. And why he’s doing all of that but Rhysand ignores Azriel’s secrets.

To be clear: Azriel questioned the Cauldron because he believes he is Elain’s mate, not because he thinks he should be/deserve.

There’s a difference between be and should be that’s important to note.

[truthtellers-vengeance]

Az's Mates Bday 01/15

Today is 01/15 and SJM said that would be Azriel's mates birthday...and I just saw someone post "Happy birthday to Gwyneth Berdara, our Capricorn girl" 💀

Despite the fact EVERYONE knows that Gwyn was conceived on Calanmai (May 1st) so couldn't have been born Jan 15th💀💀

I swear these Gwynriels will do literally anything to convince themselves and others of their delusions including wishing a fictional SIDE CHARACTER happy birthday on a day they couldn't have been born on pahahaha 🤣🤣

[elrielsgarden]

I’ll be posting this to my IG soon but I’m so impatient, so here’s the sketch I commissioned for theredcrane’s (IG) LA wildfire relief. How perfectly did she capture Elain’s beauty and sass? 🌸

[pastelpinkkadan]

I’ve asked Antis before “Why would SJM have all these Elriel moments if they aren’t endgame?”. And I always get some version of “it’s to show how they don’t fit, and that Lucien and Elain are better together”.

But that literally makes no sense.

1. All the moments that Elriel have…show how well they DO fit. Every single interaction we’ve seen them have together, shows how comfortable they are with each other. How much they get each other. How much they care for one another. Even their first meeting, before Elain was fae, was polite and lovely. If SJM was writing all those moments to show how Elriel doesn’t work or doesn’t have chemistry…she did a poor job of it.

2. There’s not one scene of Lucien and Elain fitting well together. Not. One. In several books! And as mates, they should fit together due to instinct if nothing else. Yet every interaction is described as awkward, tense, and uncomfortable. Again, if we’re really suppose to believe that Elain and Lucien fit better than Elain and Azriel, SJM isn’t selling it.

3. I can’t express enough that for the “oh, THIS MMC is actually better for the FMC, not the other MMC we’ve had her be romantically involved with” trope to actually work/count, THE FMC NEEDS TO HAVE BEEN IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OTHER MMC FIRST. Azriel and Elain are not together. They WANT to be. But they’re not. Therefore, that trope can’t work. It’s not like with Tamlin and Feyre, who had a whole ass love story before she ended up with Rhysand. That’s what made it work. And the fact that we directly saw the tension and chemistry with Feysand, in comparison to Tamlin.

4. Miss me with that “Elriel will get together in the book, find out how horrible they are, then get with their red headed mates all in 700 pages” theory because that is the DUMBEST thing I’ve ever heard. That’s not how books (especially fantasy and romance) work. That’s not how plot works. When it would make more sense to simply not have ANY Elriel moments at all. Instead, SJM could have actually ~gasp~ given us a single scene of Lucien and Elain having chemistry together. I would have even given them points for a joke, a smirk, briefly connecting gazes then looking away, Elain blushing, or them just standing next to each other for 2 second in semi-kinda-sorta comfortability. But SJM, in her 1000s of written pages, left them high and dry.

Not one Elriel moment HAD to happen to move the main ACOTAR plot forward. Or help Lucien and Elain get closer (it does the opposite, in fact). Yet, they exist. Why? To establish build up! To help create Elriel! It’s literally right there why are we arguing with basic logic I’m sick of yall 😭

P.S. Antis can ALSO miss me with the Elain and “sunshine” theories because those are the 2nd dumbest things I’ve ever heard. Lowkey, it sounds like Elain would fit with Helion better than Lucien, with the way Helion always somehow has to be involved for Elain and Lucien to have some semblance of a connection to each other. Awkward family dinner much?

Why they always harping on potential “foreshadowing” about random colors and elements, instead of ACTUAL interactions that tell us about the characters?

Oh. I know why. 🙂

[bright-side20]

To be honest, I always think there must be a bigger reason why the Cauldron mated Elain to Lucien beyond producing a strong offspring. Even in the books, both Feyre and Azriel questioned the reason behind mating her to Lucien.

We learned previously from the Bone Carver that the Book of Breathings contained spells that could nullify or control the Cauldron, but only made people are able to use them. The people in question are Feyre, Nesta, and Elain.

Amren didn’t manage to understand the spell to nullify the Cauldron. Instead, the Suriel gave another spell from the book, which allowed her to transform into her original form to end the war. This process damaged the Cauldron, and Prythian was about to be destroyed had Feyre and Rhys not interfered to repair it.

Later, we learned in Hofas that the Asteri connected the Cauldron to the essence of Prythian, meaning if anything happens to it, Prythian will be destroyed. This is exactly what was happening in Acowar. So the Cauldron remains a huge danger to Prythian,and it has to be fixed or nullifyed.

My theory is this; what if the three sisters and the three brothers are what will lead to nullifying the Cauldron? What if this is why the Book of Breathings addressed the three sisters? What if the Cauldron manipulated time when Elain was freshly made and Azriel was dying, with the bond between them shut down because of his condition, to create a fake bond with Lucien and prevent the prophecy from happening?

[nikethestatue]

So this is Feysand's consummation.

Now isn't it interesting that Feyre smelled her own bond and her and Rhys's scents merged. So, we can assume that pre-consummation there was no scent and no one, but Amren, could really tell with any certainty.

This begs the question--why can Azriel, of all people, smell the Elucien bond? Considering that it's not consummated.

And why does it make him physically sick to smell it? To the point where it is unbearable for him and he needs to have an out.

Could it be that his own mate has some other foreign bond placed on her? And like Edward Cullen couldn't be near Bella, because the scent of her blood made him sick, neither can Azriel be in the vicinity of Lucien and Elain, because their bond is making him physically ill?

What if the Cauldron was wrong?

[lovemyromance]

Lucien wants his mate.

Azriel wants Elain.

[highbabyofthenightcourt]

I was thinking about Rhysand’s mom making the dresses for Feyre. When he told her about that, he used the phrase “a trousseau for my future bride.”

Not Mate. Bride.

Rhysand’s mom didn’t make those gorgeous dresses for some female who would be his mate. She didn’t even care about that, she wanted her to be intelligent and capable. Hence, the weaver and the ring.

Rhysand didn’t impose the mating bond on Feyre, either. He never told her, not wanting that to be the reason she chose him. He never tried to step between her and other males. When Feyre starts to spend time with Tarquin, he accepts it. When they are at the inn and she tells him she wants a distraction, he gives her just that.

Point is (because i get carried away when talking about Feysand) their relationship was never about being mates. It was about choice.

It has always been about choice in this series. This is the running theme of it.

Feyre chose to go to Prythian to protect her family, to come back from Death, to master her powers, to accept her mating bond to Rhysand, to create a home in Velaris.

Nesta chose to steal from the cauldron, to heal herself, to understand her abilities, to be with Cassian.

And I’m sure Elain will do the same.

None of these stories started from a mating bond. They stumbled on it while on the road to something much more precious.

[nikachansstuff]

As a writer, I’m so confused to why would you write something for a couple that isn’t your cuppa. That you don’t like and clearly has zero understanding of.

You will not see me writing about Gwynriel because I have zero comprehension of Azriel and Gwyn as a couple. It doesn’t ring any bells for me, I have no desire to fantasize about them and also to bring to their community something that doesn’t belong. It would be a disservice on my part for the fans.

I would for sure write Elucien, because I get the appeal. I think if I take some time I can channel their relationship into writing something beautiful and compelling for both characters.

All to say, why would you write something out of hate? And completely out of character? What are you bringing to the Elriel community with such fanfic? We are all free to create whatever, yes. Art is free and democratic, for sure. But the questions remains: why?

Just my two cents.

[howmanysideblogscanihave]

If Nesta didn’t ship Elain and Azriel, why have this moment happen:

Shadows darkened his eyes, full of enough pain that she couldn’t stop herself from touching his shoulder. Letting him see that she understood why he stood in the doorway, why he wouldn’t go near the fire.

His secret to tell, never hers.

Azriel’s face remained neutral.

If she truly shipped her bestie and Azriel, she could’ve said “hey, whatever you’re feeling, you need to get over it. She has a mate. She’ll come around to her mate, you need to leave her alone. Maybe there’s someone else out there for you.”

Nesta has never had any trouble holding back before. What’s stopping her from telling Azriel to respect the bond?

Instead, she touches his shoulder, silently letting him know that she understood his pain. His pain from not being able to be with the woman he wants to be with.

Even more, this entire moment could have not happened at all if it’s not meant to build towards a relationship between Elain and Azriel. This moment serves nothing to the overall plot of the series other than to let the reader know Azriel is feeling a type of way about Elain and Nesta empathizes with him.

[acourtofquietdreamers]

This new romantasy inspired Colourpop palette is giving major Elriel vibes 🥹

Elriel’s aesthetic never loses 🦇🌸

[shadowedpetals]

Help this is so creative 😂😭

🌸🦇

Cassian: I need to get revenge on someone. I need advice on how to go about it.

Rhys, brushing lint off his jacket: Foil their wedding.

Mor, nursing a drink: Get them drunk and then get them to admit some incriminating shit in front of witnesses.

Feyre, getting ideas about her next painting: Create strife in their home.

Cassian: That's too extrem-

Nesta, looking bored, studying her nails: Off them.

Azriel, not even looking up from the reports he's reading: If you need to hide a dead body, just bury them very deep, but vertically.

Elain, looking in the distance: And plant some legally protected plants on top, so it's illegal to dig them up.

Cassian:......

Everyone else:......

Elain: 😇

Azriel, secretly proud and turned on: 😍

Cassian: Remind me to never get on your bad side.

[truthtellers-vengeance]

"But Azriel felt a spark for Gwyn!"

Just got accused of not being able to read properly and that I mustn't have properly read Azriel's Bonus Chapter because I don't think Gwynriel is endgame......

Gwynriels, please explain how Azriel feeling a lil spark in his chest shows he and Gwyn are mates/endgame when Feyre felt a spark in hers for TAMLIN?! Unless you now wanna say Tamlin and Feyre are gonna be endgame?!😂😂😂

[bright-side20]

Ranting

When I think of it as a whole, the plot is pretty much very obvious where it's going.

We have the Bone Carver in ACOWAR foreshadowing the corruption of the Cauldron when he said that some creatures manipulated it and it became a weapon of destruction, which shows that SJM had a plan from the start and just developed it gradually. Then Feyre observes how Azriel treats her sister and how he seems like the one for her. She even asks why he wasn’t chosen to be her mate,why Lucien? So Rhys explains that Elain can reject the bond and that sometimes bonds are created randomly, not meaning the two are soulmates or even good for each other. But Fae try to make it work believing the Cauldron chose them for a reason,so they end up miserable. That bowl was directly accused of having a distorted system, with its swirling eddies that wrongly match people solely for breeding purposes.

Rhys explained all that, but he wasn’t really taking it seriously. For him, Az is in love with Mor and must be asking himself why the bond hasn’t snapped between them. Also, Rhys in fact is bond biased.

During ACOWAR, we got major hints,like the rescue scene, Azriel discovering Elain is a seer while her so called mate thought she’d lost her mind, the Truth-Teller scene and from ACOWAR to ACOSF, Elain and Azriel were slowly getting closer. Meanwhile, she completely refuses to be with someone she doesn’t know, just because fate says so. That’s the main thing here, most Fae try to make the bond work even if they’re not truly interested in each other, just because the bond must have snapped for a reason. And that’s exactly what Lucien is trying to do, even though he knows Elain wants nothing to do with him ,he literally said so himself. And Elain is refusing these Fae beliefs, as she should.

Some people love to act like the bc is the only proof of the Cauldron being wrong, but no ,that was a huge plot established in the main books. They just love to ignore it. The bc was just a reminder of what Feyre already said in ACOWAR. Azriel basically repeated the same idea: he doubted the Cauldron’s mate matching system and said it could be wrong. His POV also proved that what people around him assume about him being completely in love with Mor and never moving on is wrong. And eventually, he was thinking about Elain being his mate. Not Mor. Not anyone else.

HOFAS revealed some very important things that developed the plot further, especially with Azriel’s presence. It confirmed the corruption of the Cauldron (remember, this was foreshadowed by the Bone Carver), explained a lot about the Daglan and how they exploited the Fae (which matters, since the Cauldron operates under their system), and Nesta saying Fae believe the Cauldron controls their fates was, for me, very important. Later, it was proved wrong when it was revealed that the Mother is the true governor of all worlds and the Weaver of Fate. She’s the real creator of bonds, which explains that the Cauldron is an imposter, copying the Mother’s work in a distorted way. So, long story short, the Cauldron is wrong. And that’s what Elain’s book will end up revealing. Elain is the one who has the power to change this situation, to change the fae wrong beliefs about the mating bond and how they treat the female as a belonging to her mate, Elain is the one who has the ability to fix the Cauldron.

But according to some people, all this long ass plot buildup is going to lead to us opening the next book and finding out that all the characters were hallucinating. The Cauldron isn’t wrong. The plot is that Elain will sell herself to Koschei, Lucien will save her, and she’ll decide to give him a chance, no longer caring about “love would trump even a mating bond.” She’ll just realize how much of a good male he is, fall in love with him, and beg him for forgiveness. A plot of poor Lulu my baby deserves the world

And Azriel? Oh, btw Gwyn is your mate.

Sarah, what about the whole plot you’ve been developing until HOFAS?

Who cares, I’m a fated mates author.

[lovemyromance]

Friendly reminder on all the goalposts of qualifications Anti-Elriels have made up for Elain & Azriel despite the lack of canon evidence to support:

Elain:

Needs sunlight

Needs to be surrounded by flowers

Is miserable in the NC

N&C are not her real friends because Rhysand pays them. She needs real friends.... like Jurian 🥴

Self harms because she gardens without using Lulu's magic gloves

Needs to grovel

Is boring so she needs Lucien to banter with her and make her interesting

Needs to go travel across Prythian

Needs to go be a socialite again like when she was 13

Needs to go host balls and play nice with people (of course on Lucien's arm only)

Does not need to grow her Seer powers, those can continue to collect dust

Needs to be a High Lady of Day despite never getting the chance to train her Seer powers

Needs someone who forces her out of her shell and makes her an extrovert again

Needs someone to knock her down a peg

Needs banter too

Needs to talk to Lucien and give him a real chance before even thinking about rejecting the bond

Oh btw, she never should reject the bond bc lulu will feel it forever

She deserves the full love of the MATING BOND and does not deserve to be with someone who cannot love her "fully" (whateva that means)

Azriel:

Needs someone to handle his "darkness"

Needs a "warrior"

Wants a mate

Is a selfish playboy who can only reform with his "mate"

Is jealous of Lucien (not over Elain btw, but bc some bs about Lucien having powers? Bc he was described as a courtier once? Idk)

Needs someone to challenge him

Needs banter

Needs a torture assistant / sidekick in battle

Gives out his prized weapon to any female he encounters

Only wants someone unavailable because he is deeply insecure

Only his "mate" can love him and cure him so if he doesn't find her .... fuck him ig 🤷🏻‍♀️

He deserves the full love of the MATING BOND and does not deserve to be with someone who cannot love him "fully" (whateva that means)

Fun fact: NONE OF THESE ARE STATED IN THE BOOK. There is no such thing as "what a character needs" or what you "feel like would help them grow". There is only what is IN THE BOOKS, on the page.

Ok bye thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[highbabyofthenightcourt]

Azriel: forgets a 500 year old crush because of Elain

Luc*en: compares Elain to his ex-girlfriend

Azriel: “I’m getting her back.”

Luc*en: “I want to see her. Just once. Just—to know if she is worth fighting for.”

SJM did say it was obvious …