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thinking about when elain says "you came for me" at hybern's camp like my girl probably didn't think anyone would notice she was gone didn't think anyone would come after her :(

(they will never make me hate you elain <3)

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All of this focus on Azriel’s horny feelings for Elain, but can we please talk about how Elain completely led her moment with Az in the bonus chapter?

Elain closed the distance, and her breathing quickened as she again paused, now a scant foot away.

Azriel let his shadows whisk away the box as she said softly, "Put it on me?"

His head went quiet. But he took the necklace, opening the clasp as she exposed her back, sweeping her hair up in one hand to bare her long, creamy neck.

Azriel's fingers lingered at her nape, atop the first knob of her spine. Slowly, Elain pivoted into his touch. Until his palm lay flat against her neck.

"I should go," Elain said, but made no move to leave.

Her arousal drifted up to him, and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head at the sweet scent. He'd beg on his knees for a chance to taste it.

Elain shuddered, drifting closer. So close one deep breath would brush her breasts against his chest.

“Yes" Elain breathed, like she read the decision. Just this taste in the dead of the longest night of the year, where only the Mother might witness them.

Elain's mouth parted slightly, her eyes scanning his before fluttering shut.

Offer and permission.

Girlie went for what she wants and Azriel, ever the gentleman, read her cues perfectly and only took what she offered. I love a couple built with respect and mutual attraction, there’s truly nothing hotter.

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I’ve seen some discourse lately claiming Elain is jealous of her sisters and she’ll never be close with them or fit in. I personally believe the Archeron sisters have a relationship that is worth mending and I hope to see it grow stronger in Elain’s book. Here’s some lovely quotes showcasing Elain’s love for her sisters 😌

“You should come with me,” Elain went on. “Nesta won’t go, because she says she doesn’t want to risk the sea crossing, but you and I…Oh, we’d have fun, wouldn’t we?”

Elain, to my surprise, had a horse, a satchel of food, and supplies ready when I hurried down the stairs. My father was nowhere in sight. But Elain threw her arms around me, and, holding tightly, said, “I remember—I remember all of it now.”

She nodded, tears in her eyes. “I would have liked to see the continent with you, Feyre.”

She put a hand on Nesta’s knee, the purple of my sister’s gown nearly swallowing up the ivory hand. “Feyre gave and gave—for years. Let us now help her. Help…others.”

Elain sat a little higher as she said to Cassian, “And as for Feyre’s hunting during those years, it was not Nesta’s neglect alone that is to blame. We were scared, and had received no training, and everything had been taken, and we failed her. Both of us.”

“Did you know,” I said over the sound of my sawing, “that one summer, when I was seventeen, Elain bought me some paint? We’d had just enough to spend on extra things, and she bought me and Nesta presents. She didn’t have enough for a full set, but bought me red and blue and yellow.”

Before I could turn back, Elain threw her arms around me. I did not remember when I began to cry as I felt those slender arms hold me, tight as steel.

But I did remember lying down on the bearskin rug once it was done. How I felt Elain’s slim body settle next to mine and curl into my side, careful not to touch the bandaged wound in my shoulder. I had not realized how cold I was until her warmth seeped into me. A moment later, another warm body nestled on my left. Nesta’s scent drifted over me, fire and steel and unbending will.

Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him, and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the king’s neck as she snarled in his ear, “Don’t you touch my sister.”

A gift for Nesta, she’d said. She was looking for a gift for our sister, regardless of whether Nesta deigned to join us tomorrow.

“I asked Nuala to do it in that order,” Elain said as the others gathered round. “Because you’re the foundation, the one who lifts us. You always have been.”

From the edge of my vision, purple and gold flashed—Elain. “You’ll fall ill if you just stand there in the cold,” she tutted to Nesta, smiling broadly. “Come sit with me by the fire.”

“Their dancing was that good; she was that beautiful. And when it ended…I knew she was an artist then. The same way Feyre is. But what Feyre does with paint, that’s what Nesta did with music and dance.”

Elain nodded, folding her hands in her lap. “So I’m very pleased to hear of this Valkyrie business. I’m happy that Nesta finds interest in something again. And might channel all of…that into it.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Nesta snapped, and then choked. Elain blinked. Nesta blinked back, horror lurching through her. And then Elain burst out laughing. Howling, half-sobbing laughs that sent her bending over at the waist, gasping for breath. Nesta just stared, torn between questions and wanting to throw herself into the icy Sidra. “I—I’m so sorry—” Elain held up a hand, wiping her eyes with the other. “You’ve never said such a thing to me!” She laughed again. “I think that’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

A hand slid into Nesta’s, and she found Elain there, shaking and wide-eyed. Nesta squeezed her sister’s fingers. Together, they approached the other side of the bed. And when Elain began praying to the Fae’s foreign gods, to their Mother, Nesta bowed her head, too.

Cassian looked across the bed, to where Elain was holding Feyre’s other hand, and Nesta held Elain’s.

She found Feyre and Elain waiting halfway down the hill, Nyx now dozing peacefully in Elain’s arms. Her sisters beamed, beckoning her to join.

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Azriel (name meaning in Hebrew) : “God is my help.”

Elain (name meaning in Hebrew) : “God has answered me.”

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Azriel in ACOWAR has me in a chokehold: How much power does Azriel actually have?

Azriel, having just rescued Elain, finds himself injured. He is ordered to sit out the physical battle and fight alongside Rhys with his powers on the hilltop.

Before the battle begins he arms Elain with Truth-Teller. Shocked faces and wide eyed glances from the IC tell us this is no small gesture.

While giving Elain TT has been hypothesized into oblivion I think it’s important in the overall context of this post and in Azriel’s roll in helping win this war.

“To my left, Azriel’s Siphons glowed—readying to unleash blasts to echo Rhysand’s. He might not be able to fight, but he would wield his power from here.”

“Echo”-interesting choice of a word SJM! 🧐 if he can echo Rhysands powers without full strength what would his power be like if he was fully healed?

Rhys panted, his eyes a bit wild. The hit had been well placed. Splitting the army in two. Azriel unleashed a second blast—blue light slamming into the now-exposed flank. Driving them farther apart.

Is SJM is setting this scene up so the reader has a side by side comparison of Rhys/Az?

“Rhys’s power flowed and flowed out of him, bracing for impact. Azriel’s Siphons flashed, a sprawling shield of cobalt locking over Rhysand’s, his breathing just as heavy as my mate’s”

Locking a shield over top of Rhysand’s…breathing JUST as heavy..

“It shredded Azriel’s shield. Then Rhysand’s. And then shredded any Siphon-made ones.”

Azriel shield was the first line of defense across the whole field…The blast shredded through the first line of defense (Az), then the second (Rhys) and then the third (siphon made shields)….WAIT-if Azriel’s shield wasn’t siphon made then what was it?

“Rhys only ordered him, “Get back in line. The soldiers need you there.” Cassian bared his teeth. “What the hell can we do against that?” “I’m going in,” Azriel said.”

Cassian, commander of Rhys armies, is casting doubt on winning this battle. Azriel, injured, and ordered to stay out demands to go in. Multiple times. Famously we get the line about flying with a damn tree on his back (🥵).

“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.”

~no comment~ BUT this is giving “You can’t order me to do that.” (If he’s your high lord-what so you mean he can’t order you to do something?!)

“Azriel,” Rhys said quietly. Hoarsely. “You lead the remaining Illyrians on the northern flank.” Guilt—guilt and fear rippled in my mate’s eyes at the command. Knowing that Azriel was not fully healed”

He can LEAD an army without complaint -injured.

Cassian surveyed the depleted Illyrian lines, now holding strong as Azriel rallied them. “Az has control of the lines.”

He can single handily rally back control of the lines…

“Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him, and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the king’s neck as she snarled in his ear, “Don’t you touch my sister.”

And lastly, his own knife, outfitted on his (theorized) mate, is used to win the war.

This whole sequence has raised so many questions for me. There are other scenes in the series (“you can’t order me to do that”-“he’s always known me best”-even Rhys is scared of Azs icy rage”-Beron unable to stop him in the high lords meeting-etc) that call into question:

Just how powerful is Azriel?

What is his true heritage-related to Rhys? A high lord himself?

Did SJM juxtapose Rhys and Az in these scenes to hint at something?

Oh yeah….and he’s a spymaster/Shadowsinger……

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Sjm foreshadowing is just very obvious

Acomaf:

I smiled at the thought—at how handsome they would be together. If the warrior ever stopped quietly loving Mor. I doubted it. Azriel would likely love Mor until he was a whisper of darkness between the stars.

Acosf :

He was still happy to be Mor’s buffer with Azriel, but there’d been a change lately. In both of them. Mor no longer sat beside Cassian, draped herself over him, and Azriel … those longing glances toward her had become few and far between. As if he’d given up. After five hundred years, he’d somehow given up. Cassian couldn’t think why.

Az finally got over Mor. Wow, wonder why

Azriel stood in the doorway, monitoring them. As if he’d heard Elain’s sharp laugh and wondered what had caused it. “.... ”Nesta met the shadowsinger’s stare and he gave her a nod. Then his gaze shifted to Elain, and though it was utterly neutral,something charged went through it. Between them. Elain’s breath caught slightly.

The answer :Elain Archeron

SJM had a plan since acomaf and made it happen.

Woow, Elain and Azriel would make a very beautiful couple if only he got over Mor.

Wait, he got over her? And because of Elain? What a surprise

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“The mating bond pairs equals. Azriel should be with a warrior like him. Someone who can fight back and challenge him.”

I dislike this argument for a few reasons:

1. Being a warrior is not Azriel’s primary job. He’s a spy, first and foremost. Who has shown more spy-like skills? Perhaps the person who has Azriel “beat for secret-keeping” and who is as stealthy.

2. Azriel was in love with a warrior for 500 years. Is it so hard to believe that he’s drawn to Elain because she’s not?

3. What about Azriel makes you think he wants to be challenged? The man has the hardest job in the IC. The BC told us that he doesn’t delight in the blood that’s on his hands. Isn’t it possible that what he wants is to come home to a house that’s relaxed, that smells like bread and roses?

4. The happiest we have ever seen him is when Elain gives him the headache powder and makes him LAUGH. Why does being challenged take precedence over pure joy? We all want our shadow daddy to be happy, after all.

5. There are so many instances where Az and Elain are described similarly. They both

- Are the most beautiful

- Are the quietest

- Are the most civilized/politest

- Have wielded TT

- Have stepped out of shadows

There’s just no real reason to say that Elain and Azriel are not equals in their own way, even without a mating bond.

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Elriel my baby! I promise we’re getting there

Not gonna lie I almost gave up on this piece. and I actually had somebody redraw it for me! I realized how much I wanted to finish it! She might not be perfect, but she’s mine!

Big shout out to @morwenart for advice and creating such a beautiful version of my orignal work! I hope you share it as well!

#elriel #acotar #pro elain #elain and azriel #elain archeron #azriel shadowsinger #azriel and elain #pro elriel #azriel #elain

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 I wonder if there’s a creature in the Acotar universe similar to a boggart from Hp…. I read that wraiths sometimes feed on fear….

It’d be a good way for mama Archeron to show up…. I just know that she hast to be one of Elains biggest fears….

And also for Elain to finally stand up for herself…especially if she tries to go after azriel…

Smhhhh guess I’m adding to the list fanfics I have to write!!!! 😪😍😮‍💨

#elriel #acotar #pro elain #elain and azriel #elain archeron #azriel shadowsinger #azriel and elain #pro elriel #azriel #elain

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No, I’m not fine! I am picturing the lady of the autumn Court using Lucians parentage to get Elain free from mating bond/autuam court!

#elriel #acotar #pro elain #elain and azriel #elain archeron #azriel shadowsinger #azriel and elain #pro elriel #elain #azriel

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Late night doodles of a seer and a spymaster

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One aspect of the Solstice headache powder scene we don't talk about is the fact that Elain felt comfortable enough to do that. Not just to make a joke with Az, but also in front of the everybody else. Her main concern seems to be "Will Azriel like it?" and not "Will everyone else think it's rude? Will they take it the wrong way?"

Elain is comfortable enough with all these people to make a joke at their expense, and none of them are mad/offended. She fits in here, she has a home, a family, and friends. She is happy. And I think that needs to be focused on more especially since a few months ago she was afraid of faeries, but is now celebrating Solstice with them and making dinner for them and cracking jokes.

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Both Males.

Both males went a bit still.

Just like * both males* couldn't keep away.

Just like *both males* were ready to beg on their knees for a taste.

Just like *both males* knew it was wrong, and didn't care.

Just like *both males* fumbled their first Solstice gift.

Both males, team. Idk what to tell you.

(Thought of this scene after peeping the poll on @pagemasters page asking when we thought Az's attraction started for Elain. This was it for me, tbh. Or at least when I figured out what was cooking here.)

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Feyre watching Lucien and Elain together : « It was the most uncomfortable thirty minutes I could recall »

Feyre watching Azriel and Elain together : « Why not make them mates? »

Feyre imagining Lucien and Elain together : « I shook my head, trying not to imagine Elain subject to that … fire. »

Feyre imagining Azriel and Elain together : « I smiled at the thought—at how handsome they would be together. »

Nesta to the idea of Lucien near to Elain : « If you bring that male anywhere near her, I’ll »

Nesta when Azriel is near to Elain : « Nesta monitored him like a hawk, but kept silent as Elain took his hand, and out they went »

Nesta noticing how Elain look at Azriel : « Then his gaze shifted to Elain, and though it was utterly neutral, something charged went through it. Between them. Elain’s breath caught slightly »

Nesta noticing how Elain look at Lucien : « Her brown eyes were wary. Usually, that look was reserved for Lucien. The male was definitely in the family room, »

Bonus : Nesta trusting Azriel with Elain’s safety :

« Nesta met his stare, knowing he was the only one aside from Feyre who could truly understand her hesitation. We won’t make the same mistake twice. She believed him » (Also, I always find it funny when she says that Azriel was the only one aside Feyre to understand her hesitation. No mention of Lucien)

Conclusion : Nesta and Feyre are Elriels.

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I saw @evrhn on tiktok post this scene with some lovely art by nicki.li_ and I just couldn't help but go back to the text because I noticed something so important:

Elain is not clinging to Azriel. He is cradling her

He literally could not stop himself. It was his choice to keep holding her while he is barely staving off a full bleed out.

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You can’t be an azriel girl if you say “not gywn or not Elain” you won’t care who is mate it as long as he’s happy but I feel like some people aren’t ready for this conversation

#elriel #acotar #azriel shadowsinger #azriel #shadowsinger #gwynriel #elain archeron

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🥀ELRIEL CORNER SERIES ‘BLISS’🥀

Elain and Azriel - ACOTAR Series

Artist: bloodydamnit on Instagram