#riel talk

[teeth-draws]

This was meant to be the first picture in a series but ummm idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rising from the dead to doodle my favourite boy from @shepherds-of-haven

[yaralulu]

I hate to engage in shipwar discourse but i’m feeling very anti elriel so 😄.

Elain and Azriel’s relationship is literally doomed before it even starts and I don’t understand how ppl don’t see this.

Fundamentally, Elain and Azriel want very different things that do not align together. Like Azriel’s whole shtick is wanting a mate. It’s literally all he wants. He believes finding his mate would make him worthy and would solve all his problems. He thinks a mating bond would be a blessing and gift from the mother and it would somehow rid him from all the horrible things he’s done bc if the mother thinks he’s worthy enough of a mate then maybe he’s not so irredeemable. He so desperately yearns for a mate that he’s literally become delusional about it and is questioning the cauldron. He wants a mate, he wants that validation and blessing from the mother.

Elain on the other hand, currently resents the mating bond and everything it means and doesn’t want it. She views the mating bond as this thing that ruined her relationship with grayson, as this thing that’s taking her choices away and she doesn’t see the value or gift in it. She wants nothing to do with it right now.

Their wants do not align. but it’s not just this it’s literally everything else.

Elain has expressed wanting to do greater things in life. She wanted to help out with the troves in acosf,she wants to help out with koschei and the upcoming war. She wants to be useful and to be seen.

Azriel would literally hate nothing more. He doesn’t want Elain in any danger, doesn’t even want her doing things that are slightly risky even if she wants to do them. Her wants are not a priority bc he just wants her safe and cooped up in her garden. In his eyes, she’s fragile and delicate and should not be exposed to such things.

Their wants do not align.

“oh but Azriel being happy without a mate and Elain getting a choice on who she’s with would be so poetic 🥺!!”

Azriel would literally spend the entire relationship wondering if he still has a mate out there bc the desire for one will always be there. and Elain would spend the entire relationship wondering what would’ve happened if she’d gotten with her mate instead because the bond will always be there. oh and if Lucien loses his mind, there’ll be that nice guilt to go with the doubt.

I get the appeal for this ship I really do. Light and dark. Sweet nice girl saves broken guy from the darkness within him. I get it. but like realistically? these two would not lasttt. I’d give them 4 months TOPS before they realize they have nothing in common and that their wants and vision for their lives do not align with one another.

they’re doomed in every way idk what to tell you.

[olenvasynyt]

Anyways happy Elain Day! This was so nice, I’m so glad to see some more lovely Elain art

[shadowqueenjude]

Azriel might have said “Be careful how you speak to my High Lady” but Lucien was willing to die rather than give away the name of the human girl who’d killed his friend.

[sserrafeim]

At first it was “Gwyn is a lightsinger who lures people to do what she wants. She’s been using her powers this whole time even if she doesn’t know it. It’s why she glows when she sings!! She also lied about her SA so we’ll feel bad about her! She wants to separate Elain and Azriel!!”

But now it’s “Gwyn is an SA victim! You can’t ship her with Azriel because she didn’t consent to it! That’s gross and very disrespectful to irl SA victims! Shame on you!!”

That’s why I’ll never take the Elriel shippers seriously.

[famouscyclenerd]

E/riels when people say they have degrees

[ennawrite]

E/riels can play the hell out of guilty as sin? (it is a fantastic song) but they’ll never ever get this type of scene from Elain & Az 😉🙂‍↔️

Feysand:

Nessian:

Elucien, before the bond is even accepted:

Also, both mated couples describe their bond as “golden threads” and a song between their souls.

We have THIS from Elucien:

and THIS from Gwynriel:

As much as I rag on feysand & nessian, SJM clearly follows a pattern. I don’t see her straying far from it, especially not after the ACOSF bonus chapter. It’s a good song though 🙏

[gwyns]

e/riels can't even understand metaphors and i'm expected to think they're smart enough to predict a sjm couple??

[orphicauroras]

The sinking state of elriel becomes more evident as you take in the fact that all those so-called foreshadowing and romantic gestures culminated to only lust in the end.

Sarah had the perfect opportunity to give them more in ACOSF than whatever it is that she wrote. Like I don't think you guys understand how easy it was to include elriel. Instead we get all these scenes with Gwyn, their banter and these subtle hints towards their potential match.

It is even more evident in the bonus chapter (let's get real it doesn't matter much to Sarah if everyone has read or not, the point is she choose to write it and say she has spread all the crumbs in it). You have a ship that is building up for the past books reduced to nothing but lust. All Azriel questions is why the third sister can't be his mate cuz according to his logic she should be his. It would have been much better if he had at least said Elain's name Or phrased what he said differently so that he doesn't come off as he did. And you can say how Rhysand is bad for blocking them but it seems like he agreed with the many readers here. Azriel did come off as desperate for mate and entitled. The result can be viewed on Rhysand's reaction. Mind you Rhysand is the same guy who was ok with Feyre living with Tamlin if it meant her happiness.

Azriel can't even think of anything else other than the third sister bs and her skin. And that's the issue that many readers had. It's not about Azriel wanting to get down on Elain. It's that there's nothing else aside from his lust. For a ship building up for the past books you would expect more than just horniness. Compare it with Cassian's thoughts about Nesta and it becomes more clear. Again Sarah could have easily written it the other way. Make Azriel think and say anything other than what he did.

I'm not gonna go to the Gwyn part of the bonus chapter cuz the shift is clear as a day. But for people like me who went in with the assumption that we would get more elriel that was a wake up call. It doesn't matter how much build up a ship has, what matters more is the current state of it which is not good. Especially with an author like SJM.

[sad-scarred-sassy]

Just saw a reel that was discussing Elain and Lucien not being endgame because her “choosing” someone else would be a lot more compelling of a story than another mating bond story.

When I see stuff like this I just want to ask… how? How is it more compelling?

So… I wanted to imagine what that “compelling story” would be like according to them. Elain and Azriel start seeing eachother in secret, will their romantic arc just be Azriel beginning to see Elain as a capable individual with wants needs and motivations beyond sex? Will it be that he stops obsessing about her mating bond with Lucien and that she isnt his mate? Okay. What is their tension point? Rhys? So Azriel will tell Rhys he loves Elain and Rhys will still not support his brother? Okay. Will Lucien be their tension point? If Elain tells Lucien that she loves Azriel and not him (even though she wouldn’t know they aren’t compatible because she never even let herself know him at this point) do you believe Lucien will not let her go? That he will call a blood duel or cut ties with the NC because of Elain when he canonically has been the only character to put duty before his feelings? And that he also has planned to let Elain be with her fiance if thats what she wanted since before meeting her? Okay.

If we take the canon stuff that has been written about these characters, then NONE of these plot points have tension or conflict. Elain would tell Lucien she doesn’t want him and Azriel would tell Rhys he is in love with Elain and thats as far as that plot goes.

Great, now Elain and Az are together, but what happens? They live happy together in Velaris forever, or Elain starts having the what if thought that comes with having rejected something she didn’t even know she wouldn’t want… And Azriel forever has the fear that Elain will one day wake up and choose to explore something with her ACTUAL mate, and what happens if Azriel’s mate shows up, will Azriel also reject his mating bond, would this also not plague both of their minds FOREVER?

And Lucien? Canonically he could be losing his mind and overall his arc would be that his epic romance ended in Jesminda dying and his mate rejected him without even getting to know him💀 But he will suddenly overcome this and be with another female who will not have the same doubts about being with him that Elain and Azriel have? Right.

Should I keep reminding everyone that this is a fated mates story in a universe where fated mates relationships that have love are the THE EPITOME OF LOVE?? THE MOST SOUGHT OUT AND WANTED, PERIOD???

I keep saying this but I will say it again, in order to have that “compelling story” where Elain rejects Lucien we should have had them already interact with each other, she should KNOW she doesn’t want him, and no, not because she is avoiding him now it means she has already decided they’re incompatible, THIS SHOULD BE CLEAR BY NOW. I swear these people don’t understand how a romantic arc with a HAPPY ENDING looks like.

Anyway we all know what the actual compelling story is, where the tension really lies, where Elain will have to grow and find her happiness in places she probably never expected, where her own needs and motivations will be respected and accounted. And no, its not with Azriel.

[hopelesslyhopeful11]

SJM CONFIRMS THREE MORE ACOTAR BOOKS

I’m so glad I didn’t cave under the gaslighting that tried to tell me that there are only two more ACOTAR books left and SJM/bloomsbury changed their minds and altered the contract without telling anyone.

*next part talks about somethings that were hinted in HOFAS so spoilers, kind of but like not at all too lol*

Plotwise, especially after reading HOFAS, I think these are the book orders:

1. Azriel and Gwyn with Mor and Emerie (continuation of the Valkyrie plotline and Illyrians)

2. Elain and Lucien (Koschei story)

3. Closing novella? Probably another novel honestly lol

What are your guesses for book titles and plots?

[yaralulu]

Sjm had the chance to show us that something was happening between vassa and lucien when cassian visited them in acosf but instead we got jurian teasing vassa and lucien literally playing third wheel.Sjm could’ve veryyy easily made it so lucien was the one doing the teasing but she didn’t.She had her shot and she most definitely did not shoot it.Not a single indication of vassien in that scene,just proof of what lucien has been telling us since acofas—vassa and jurian want to smash 🤷.

[shepherds-of-haven]

i love that the other characters comment on your romance, like when trouble + chase teased blade for having a favourite 😭

For some reason, the absolute easiest content for me to write is characters absolutely clowning on other characters for being in love! 😂 It's just too good!

[nyxreads]

You can't discount all Elriel moments that Elriels loved because of your jealousy. It was confirmed by the author that Elain and Azriel wanted each other. The TT scene, the rescue scene, the potato, etc., no matter how much you try to insert other characters to justify they are not romantically coded, at the end of the day SJM decided it will be Azriel and Elain's moment. Cassian volunteered to save Elain, sure BUT it is Azriel with his rage who decided he'd go even tho it'd risk his life. Sjm emphasized on that. So idk, maybe just focus on your ship and the three platonic scenes you have than talking about Elriel non stop? You already sounds like a total stan. Just sayin'

[sserrafeim]

This shipwar stopped being about the ships long ago. Now it’s about who can be the most mentally unwell and the E/riel side is winning so far

[phoebe-ofthe-cosmos]

ACOSF Chapter 58, even though Elain and Az are... whatever, SJM in the next paragraph shows us that Rhys, Cassian, and Lucien can be buddies. Guys being dudes. A little preview of the future potential for these brothers-in-law

I think it was @acourtofthought who wrote something about how Az feels on the outs with his family after Rhys and Cassian both find their mates. Along with his established issues feeling like he doesn't fit in with Illyrians or High Fae, now he's losing his place within his own family as his brothers take the next steps in their lives. The positioning here, of these three together and Az lingering by the door, only cements that.

And I don't think it's coincidence that she gives us an example here of Azriel's shadows swirling in a moment of happiness right before the bonus chapter takes place. Teeing that up nicely for ya