GUYS OMG

So I saw someone joke on Twitter that Feyre would paint the whole description that she made when Azriel gave Elain his Truth-Teller as some anniversary gift for Elriel.

For reference:

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.

But, can we please go back to look at what Elriel gave Feyre individually as Solstice gifts in ACOFAS?

"From Azriel: rare, vibrant paint from the continent."

"From Elain: fine brushes monogrammed with my initials and the Night Court insignia on the handle."

What if SJM did this on purpose so that Feyre will actually create the painting using the gifts from Elain & Azriel?

This needs to happen🙏

Are you worried about the severe amount of backlash that elain’s book will get from the fandom? Like gw*nriel is pretty popular right now among the active fandom & a lot of people hate on Elain (I’d argue that Elain receives more hate than nesta did)…. And if elain is confirmed as the next book or Elriel is confirmed then I feel most of the fandom will go rabid.

Hello anon!

Truthfully? Not really

It's obvious that the fandom will go crazy when SJM confirms an Elriel book, but if you think about it, it'll just be history repeating itself.

SJM's readers were acting the same way when she announced Chaol and Nesta's books (who are also extremely hated) and if you look at social media now, you'll see that many changed their minds when they read the books.

I have no doubt that SJM will manage to make more Elain antis start to like her when she finally tells her story.

The only people I can see really going crazy over Elain's book is the Gwynriels when they realise that their ship isn't canon, but it's not like they can do anything about it🤷‍♀️

Cassian: So, did you kiss her?

Azriel: No, the moment wasn't right. Look, Elain could be my future wife and I want our first kiss to be perfect.

Cassian: Aw, Azriel that's sweet. You chickened out like a little bitch.

Cassian: Ten years ago today, I married my best friend.

Feyre: Aw, that's sweet!

Cassian: Nesta's still mad about it, but Az and I were drunk and thought it was funny.

helloo, im honestly lowkey an elriel shipper since they met, but i cant help be disturbed about the last line az felt/said when he pictured gwyn seeing the necklace he meant to give elain. you know the “a thing of secret, lovely beauty” line :(( not to mention what he felt after picturing it too :(( whats your take/opinion on it? TT

Hello!

Here is a post which summarises my belief about the line:

Meaning of the Line

As for how he felt after picturing her? Remember that this line follows after it:

"For whatever reason... he could see it."

Personally, I think it's a parallel to one of the previous lines in the chapter:

"But when he returned from the cabin in the mountains, he didn't go to the market square.

Instead, he found himself at the library [...]"

Here you can see that Azriel had full intentions to go back to return the jewelry, but for some reason he "found himself" at the library.

It's clear Azriel didn't mean to picture Gwyn, nor go to the place she is often at.

I believe this links back to the lightsinger theory with Azriel being unconsciously lured in by Gwyn's powers.

I’ve read so many adult books and I’ve recently got into dark romance. If you compare Azriel to those men, he’s a baby. Azriel in the pov was nothing and majority of people knew acosf and the rest of the books were now NA and were going to be filled with smut . Azriel acted exactly like Rhys, cassian, Rowan,hunt, and lorcan do. All of those men are very sexual and have had fantasies. Some have touched themselves to though of their partner which is what Azriel did. Rhys was jealous of feylin which he admitted to, cassian was jealous of feysand which he also admitted to in acosf, and now Azriel is jealous of what his brother’s have which is very normal. Rhys couldn’t think of a future with feyre because she was with tamlin. Cassian said he never thought of Nesta and he couldn’t be with her because of Nesta, and now Azriel can’t be with Elain because she has a mate and Rhys forbade them from seeing each other. Rhys avoided feyre for 3 months, cassian avoided Nesta for almost a year, and Azriel avoided Elain for months and moved out of his house because of her. All three bat boys save their girls and put them on a pedestal and yet I only see Azriel being hated for it . All three bat boys are going overprotective of their girls and Azriel is the only one being hated on for doing it with Elain (protecting someone show’s you care for them). All three batboys have called feyre,Nesta, and Elain perfect but when Azriel does it, its a problem and it’s toxic.All three of them have sexual thoughts and Azriel is the only one being hated on for it. Azriel acted exactly like how his brothers do and he acts like the tog men but since Azriel does it, it’s a problem which is very hypocritical. I don’t see anyone talking about Rhys and Cassians behavior, and saying it’s unhealthy and toxic. The whole point of the pov to show Elriel’s sexual attraction and plot for the next book and the antics decided to turn it into diagnosing Azriel with things he doesn’t have and calling him abusive even though there is no evidence of that. If they have a problem with all of this they shouldn’t read sjm books. She writes morally grey men who are protective and will put their girls above anyone else . If it really bothers them than sjm books is not for them . Sorry for the long Anon, the antics just frustrate me with their twisted narrative.

Hello!

Never apologise for long asks! I totally understand and relate to your frustration!

I genuinely don't understand why people have the audacity to complain about Azriel's thoughts in his chapter because as you've mentioned, SJM made it known that her books are now marketed as NA and even then, there was nothing wrong with his thoughts. Last time I checked, Cassian was also revealed to have sexual thoughts about Nesta in Wings and Embers, so why is it any different for Azriel? Because his thoughts are about Elain and not Gwyn, the character they want him to be with so badly :)

Honestly, I just find it ridiculous. As you said, basically all SJM men have been protective and possesive over their love interests, and just because Azriel is the same with the character they hate, they've decided to diagnose him with some kinds of mental health issues and call him "toxic".

Apparently, Azriel calling her perfect and immaculate means that he's putting her on a pedestal and if she'd ever dare to do something that he'd disapprove of, his perfect image of her would be ruined. I just find it so funny because despite the fact that all the men love their women, there's a lot of situations where their lovers have went against their wishes, but it doesn't mean that anything becomes "destroyed" between them?

However, I must admit that the funniest thing I've seen is how apparently Azriel wouldn't be like this with Gwyn and how she'd teach him "true love"😭If Azriel has been "so toxic" with Mor and Elain, why do people think it'll be any different with Gwyn? I can bet that if he started calling her perfect and immaculate, it'd be a completely different story because Gwyn is a character they actually like.

Here are some excuses that I've seen them use for Elriel moments:

Azriel fantasising and masturbating when thinking about Elain shows that he only lusts for her.

Azriel only saved Elain because she's his High Lady's sister

Azriel is only interested in Elain because she's the 3rd sister

Remember when Elain made Azriel laugh so much because of the headache powder she gifted him? According to some antis, he was actually laughing at her naiveté...

Apparently the necklace was a very generic and badly thought out gift for Elain

And so on and so on...

These continuous "reasons" why Elriel is wrong for eachother just shows how they're reaching to look for any sort of proof why they may not work out. Deep inside their minds, they see that SJM has been building this ship up for a long time now, but they're in denial.

Why do you think they shipped Emerie with Azriel after ACOFAS? It's not because there was any potential, but because they wanted to be rid of Elain. The situation is the exact same with Gwyn.

If they're really trying to psycho analyse a toxic ship, I think they should go back and reread ACOTAR when Feylin was still a thing...

I loved Gwyn as a character but the gwynriels have made it so bad for me that the moment I see her name in a post I have to scroll past without reading a single word because of how much some of the things they say upset me.

Hello anon!

I totally get you :(

The one thing that really bugs me is how a lot of them romanticise how Azriel met Gwyn. That scene was written to tell Gwyn's story and to make the readers aware of her trauma, and it sickens me to see comments like "I wonder how Azriel felt when he saw her" or "I hope we can see a flashback of Azriel's POV of that scene". It's so inappropriate to see an SA victim be reduced to nothing but a potential love interest.

She definitely deserves better from her so called stans.

We know that Cass's love language is physical touch.. given how Az tends to seek out people one on one (like how he was more comfortable when it was just him and Feyre) and spend time with them, maybe his love language is quality time. So maybe him seeking out Elain (offering her to show her the garden and later sunning his wings beside her) is his way of telling her he cares for her? Ngl I really want a crapton of domestic Elriel where they just sit in the garden and eat cakes or smth 😊😊😊

Hello anon!

I can definitely see Azriel's love language as quality time!

It's been shown that he's a very private person and even Mor, the female he loved his whole life, confirmed that it took her approx. 400 years for him to spend his free time with her at Rita's.

Therefore, Azriel offering to show Elain around, spending his free time with her, etc. is actually a very big thing for him even if it doesn't look that way at first glance.

Elriel would definitely be the couple that could just sit together in silence, doing absolutely nothing and just being happy in eachother's presence.

Sarah J Maas Drinking Game

Drink whenever:

Feyre's "bowels turned watery"

A character has "eyes lined with silver"

A character "sketched a bow"

A character makes a vulgar gesture

A character barks, hisses, growls, snarls or purrs

The word "mate" is used

Food tastes like ash in Feyre's mouth

A character picks at invisible lint

A character ends up "shredded to bloody ribbons"

"[Insert Character] said by way of greeting" is used

A character's "throat bobbed"

Thinking about how the symbol of the Starborn fae in CC (the ones Bryce is the descendent of) is an eight-pointed star and how there was an eight-pointed star in the Prison underneath the Harp 🤔🤔🤔🤔

Hey anon!

That's actually quite interesting

I mean, we did get a confirmation that when Aelin flew through the different worlds, she passed Feysand and Crescent City so it's not impossible for the stories to be linked!

In a lot of fantasy books when you have a seer, the one caveat is that they can't see anything that directly relates to them. In acowar when Elain mentions the queens and Vassa, she says the onyx box is "shadow and mist" or smth. Maybe this means that Elain has to be the one to find the box? (Also the things that Elain can't see are "shadows and mist" and the Fourth object looked like bone covered in shadows.. and Az controls shadows.. interesting)

Hello anon!

Ooo, I quite like this!

It's pretty obvious that shadows are majorly related to Azriel so it could be a hint towards him & Elain being the ones to find it together!

Also, let's look at this quote below:

Life and death and rebirth

Sun and moon and dark

Rot and bloom and bones

It's pretty obvious that the first line relates to Feyre's story, meanwhile the second refers to Nesta, so it leaves us with the third one going to Elain.

As you mentioned above, the Fourth Object looked like bone covered in shadows, right? And where do we have a mention of bones? In the line referring to Elain👀

It all ties up very nicely...

“No matter how much she claimed to be a part of this court ... it sucked the life from her” how do think Elain will be able to thrive in the night court if she stays with Azriel?

Hello anon!

Firstly, I wouldn't put too much attention on this quote since this was what Cassian thought. And what do we know about Cassian? He can be extremely oblivious... (Example: "Azriel offered her a small smile that Elain quickly looked away from. Cassian tucked away his puzzlement.")

However, let's look back at what Elain herself thinks, shall we?

"Elain, mourn as she might for the life she would have had with Graysen, 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."

"When Feyre had offered to let her remain home, Elain had squared her shoulders and declared that she was a part of this court—and would do whatever was needed."

As you can see, Elain is clearly happy and thriving in the Night Court already, and I think her opinion on whether she belongs or not is more important than Cassian's, wouldn't you agree?

Now, let's bring some context in:

Cassian said this when referring to Hewn City, yes? I don't know about you, but I doubt any of the Inner Court's members would like to belong to that kind of place...

Why did Cassian say this in the first place? Because Elain wore black, the opposite of what she is usually known to wear. I think it's pretty obvious that the darkest colour wouldn't suit a person who is known to be so lively and sweet. That's like Azriel wearing pink. It just wouldn't look good.

And we all know that the only reason that Elain wore black is so that she would purposefully look worse so that everyone's attention would be on Nesta.

To sum everything up, I can assure you that Elain would be more than happy to stay with Azriel in the Night Court. She has a love interest, family, friends and activities that bring her joy.

Why wouldn't she thrive?

James Herondale & Cordelia Carstairs

[Credits to loweana.art on Instagram]

[Commissioned by Cassandra Clare]

lol why on earth would Gwyn be any sort of villain? She's been nothing but sweet and selfless through acosf and implying that a sexual assault victim would try to coerce/lure a man against his will (no matter if she intends to do so) is harmful. I know that SA doesn't make someone exempt from bad actions, but still, SJM would never write Gwyn as any sort of villain/antagonist, especially a lightsinger, with how evil and seductive they are--it'd be a terrible and hurtful twist, with real world implications, no matter how she wrote it.

"She's been nothing but sweet and selfless"

You do know that's how most traitors start off like, right? Obviously, authors don't want to make it predictable. If you've read many books with betrayal in it, you'll see that they want to make it a shocking plot twist when they reveal that someone who seemed to be a good, charming character has been a villain all along. (The Darkling, Maven Calore, etc.)

As for the lightsinger theory itself, I personally don't believe in it simply because it looks beneficial to my ship, but because of the textual evidence present in the book which match Gwyn to be this sort of creature. Here is a post that backs up this theory. So as you can see, it isn't a theory that was made up out of thin air. I believe that as long as you have evidence to back up your theory and it makes sense then it's possible, and this theory definitely seems possible.

There's also this theory floating around that Gwyn is somehow manipulated herself by Merrill to get information on Azriel for Koschei (I don't remember who made it, but I'm sure the post could be easily found) which could make sense since Gwyn did end up giving Merrill some vital information that she wasn't supposed to (The Dread Trove)

"SJM would never write Gwyn as any sort of villain/antagonist, especially a lightsinger, with how evil and seductive they are"

Firstly, that statement is outright wrong considering that she already wrote about Feyre experiencing SA Under the Mountain from Rhys, a male who experienced SA himself.

Yes, it was later explained that he did it for Feyre's good, but it doesn't change the fact that his actions were done without consent and against Feyre's will.

Should SJM have included this in the book? I don't believe so, but it shows that since she's done it once, she could do it again. It's the plain truth.

You said it yourself, being an SA survivor doesn't make a character exempt from doing bad things.

Overall, do I think that Gwyn will be revealed as this completely evil persona? No, but I do believe that she is a lightsinger who may be manipulated or blackmailed by someone to get close to Azriel. I feel like Gwyn herself doesn't fully understand her powers and someone may be using her for this reason. I do like her as a character and I sincerely hope she gets her own HEA, but it's impossible to just ignore all the descriptions surrounding her that point towards her being something more.

Who knows? Maybe in the end it'll turn out she was good all along, but I firmly stand by the theory that she is a lightsinger.

Sarah has confirmed that we will get a scene of Azriel singing, do you think it could be an elriel scene?

Hello anon!

Truthfully? I don't think it'll be a romantic scene at all.

I personally believe it would actually be a scene where Azriel sings to Nyx😅

Why SJM won't change Azriel's LI to Gwyn for the 2nd time despite it being her pattern

If you've read all of SJM's other books, you'll know that she frequently changes love interests, sometimes even more than once for the same character! Here are the main examples:

Throne of Glass:

Aelin: Sam > Dorian/Chaol > Rowan

Chaol: Celaena > Nesryn > Yrene

Dorian: Celaena > Sorscha > Manon

A Court of Thorns and Roses:

Feyre: Tamlin > Rhysand

Elain: Graysen > Lucien > Azriel

Azriel: Mor > Elain

Crescent City:

Bryce: Connor > Hunt > potentially Aidas

Now, you may be wondering, if that is clearly SJM's pattern in her books, then why can she not do it again? The answer is simple.

Starting from ACOSF, all her ACOTAR books are now spinoff standalones centered around one couple.

If you look back at the characters with changed love interests, you'll see that it took SJM more than one book to develop and then destroy the previous relationships before we stopped at the final love interest.

The thing is, she can't afford to do it now. She only has one book for Azriel and whoever his endgame is (*cough* Elain *cough*) to sort out their relationship.

Do you really think SJM will spend a major part of Azriel's book with him pining over Elain then getting over her just to have Gwyn be his endgame, therefore not giving their relationship FULL focus?

Keep in mind that she would have to write about Azriel pining and getting over Elain as not everyone has read his Bonus Chapter and knows what happened between them. There's no way she could simply skip over that.

The only times (that we know of) Gwyn and Azriel interact are when he saved her in Sangravah and when he trains her (this includes the dagger training and the interaction on solstice since they only thing they talk about is the party and trainjng). On solstice, it's clear that the only reason he talks to Gwyn is because he can't take a u-turn without coming off as a dick. In contrast he seeks out Elain repeatedly even when no one else does. Idk man, seems clear to me who he likes.

Hello anon!

These particular lines are very telling to me:

It was too late to bank without it appearing like he was running." - If she didn't notice him, he would've easily turned back, but he didn't want to look rude.

"Fine," he said, and realized a heartbeat later that it wasn't a socially acceptable answer. "It was nice." - He's not exactly very friendly and open with her, is he?

She opened her mouth to ask more, but he didn't feel like explaining. - If you compare this to when Elain first asked him a question about his flying, you'll see a great difference👀

Also, as you pointed out, there's multiple instances where Azriel initiates interactions with Elain, unlike with Gwyn. The contrast is strong and very clear in what it is trying to show us.

Feysand made a bargain.. Nessian made a bargain.. Elriel will probably make a bargain too.. what if THEIR BARGAIN IS THEIR WEDDING VOWS AND THE TATTOO IS A ROSE WITH THORNS BECAUSE IT REPRESENTS THE LIGHT AND DARK IN THEM BOTH honestly I don't care as much about WHAT the wedding tattoo is as long as it's on Az's heart

Hey anon!

I honestly love this theory!

Funnily enough, someone once pointed out that the following image was found in SJM's Pinterest:

Personally, I don't pay THAT much attention to what she has in her Pinterest as most of it is inspiration and not what will actually happen in the series (For example, I'm pretty sure she has a section named "Mor and Azriel" with several romantic images, but it's obvious that won't happen)

However, I do believe that would be adorable!

I just finished acosf and I’m honestly kind of worried about how elriel will be possible now that Rhys officially commanded that Azriel stay away from Elain, I can’t rlly see Azriel going against his brother’s order

Hey anon!

I wouldn't be worried about that. It'd be out of character for Azriel to just give up on Elain.

Remember this scene?

“Chain me to a tree, Rhys,” Azriel said softly. “Go ahead.” He began checking the buckles on his weapons. “I’ll rip it out of the ground and fly with it on my damned back.”

Azriel is way too stubborn to just submit like that, especially when it comes to Elain. (Remember when Nesta warned him he might die if he goes to Hybern's Camp and he just repeated "I'm getting her back"? Yeah...)

Rhys' command simply sets us up for a lot of angst & tension between Elriel now. Even possibly introducing the forbidden love trope.

Keep in mind that Rhys' biggest concern was the consequences of Elriel being together on their alliances with the other courts and how Lucien "as Beron's son" can invoke the Blood Duel. However, we as readers know better, and we know that Lucien isn't truly Beron's son which shows a flaw in Rhys' argument.

If anything, I have a feeling that Azriel will continue to grow closer to Elain, but they'll both have to keep it a secret from everyone else due to Rhys' warning.

What is your take on the line “you’re the new ribbon az”, why do you think Sarah added that?

Hello anon!

Truthfully, I don't see it romantic in any way as the Gwynriels do.

Let's think back to the Valkyrie's training. Gwyn was the most determined to be the first to cut the ribbon due to her competitive nature.

So too, I believe that her determination with the ribbon matched her determination to wipe the smirks off of Cassian & Azriel's faces, but mainly Azriel's as he was the one who looked like he didn't really believe in them as much.

A lot of people also claim that this quote reveals Nesta as a Gwynriel shipper, but let's be realistic here. If that was true, SJM would've added a scene where Nesta maybe asks Gwyn about Azriel or even teases her like Emerie & Gwyn have done to her. Did we get that? No.

In fact, we got a scene where SJM confirms that Nesta is aware of Azriel's inner turmoil about Elain.