Shadow & Sight

Elriel 🌸🖤

[sakurakittypeach]

very bold marketing strategy from an author and her publishing company considering the last three releases were barely 2/5 stars.

[mrspettyferr]

I find it very interesting that when Sarah had the opportunity in the CHD podcast to explain what it means to be mates, she VERY quickly goes into the negative aspects of it.

Q: Can you quickly explain what that (mates) means in the world.

A: It's kind of like your destined true love in a way, but it's complicated because there's a biological component to it. Where you can be mated to someone who is like, not actually your true love. So there's like true-true mates, and then there's like...nature made a mistake.

I mean like Rhys's parents--did not love each other. Like, it was not a great relationship. But they were mates, and it was like, there's a biological thing where it's like, we want to be together, but we're fucking miserable with each other--especially his mom. So it's tricky.

But when you find your perfect mate--like Rhys and Feyre, Cassian and Nesta--that is like the last little piece of your soul that was kind of like a little broken, and is like now...you found your person.

For an author who is a "fated mates author," she spent quite a long time telling us why it can kind of suck. lmao Who wants to be "fucking miserable" with their partner??

[cassianfanclub]

At some point, Gwynriels are going to have to grapple with the fact that the context of us learning Gwyn’s age was because Cassian called her a girl and Nesta was like “yeah, she’s 28, so he would definitely see her as just a girl.”

We didn’t just make up the fact that she’s young for a fae. That she’s too young for Azriel. We learn in the first book that based on fae aging, Gwyn won’t reach full maturity till 75ish. She’s literally only a 1/3 of the way to maturity as a fae. She has to ask to attend sleepovers. Her best friends had to knock her out bc she threw a temper tantrum that endangered all of them on the mountain. Azriel thinks of her as the “young priestess” in his bonus. She’s young. And thats ok. Her age doesn’t take away anything from her character - except it makes it wildly inappropriate and problematic for her to be with Az. And that’s why Gwynriels hate when it’s brought up. It’s not something that can be fixed with magic or even a retcon, because even a retcon would still make it gross.

And none of this even touches on the other problematic dynamics of a romantic relationship between them, such as the power imbalance of him being one of the most powerful fae in their government and training her at what is essentially a women’s shelter. Or the fact that he saw her at the worst, most traumatic moment of her life and they both think about that when they see each other in the bonus. That right then and there should have indicated that the bonus was not supposed to be taken as a romantic moment between them.

Like I said, Gwyn’s age doesn’t take away a single thing from her character. Not her growth, not her strength, not her achievements. The only thing is does take away is Azriel and that’s the only reason Gwynriels lose their shit when you bring up canon.

[soyzaweels]

“Elain was nestled beside a too-casual Mor on the sitting room couch when we arrived at the town house”.

Art by @/paddletea (on ig) commissioned by me 🙂‍↔️💕

➵ Characters Elain Archeron and Morrigan belong to @therealsjmaas

➵ Please 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓

➵ Likes and shares are appreciated.

➵ Be respectful.

[nikethestatue]

Not gonna lie, the influx of all these wannabe Booktockers online is driving me kind of nuts.

First of all, stop stealing OLD theories and then presenting them as OH WOW LOOK WHAT I JUST THOUGHT OF!!!!

Like STFU. This is not new. This is you re-purposing other people's thoughts and efforts.

Or, they are so desperate to jump on the bandwagon that they'll use their KIDS as props for ridiculous Gwynriel vs Elriel posts.

Or it's clear that they only barely delved into the books and are just spewing silly shit.

Frankly, I am just tired of waiting and being exposed to even more dumbness now that we are closer to the release.

'Azriel will be alone!'

NO. It's a fucking romance! No one is ending up alone. Especially not the MMCs. Jeez.

[jasmineandshadows]

new ROMANCES as in more than one clearly it’s not Gwynriels who don’t know how to read lol

I don't usually feed the trolls but I am in this instance because the way this showed up in my inbox SO FAST after I posted - always satisfying to know we live rent-free in your heads, even when I am barely ever active on here.

And yeah, romances - Elriel and Vassien. I thought it was pretty obvious?

[jasmineandshadows]

The way Gwynriels are running with the "new romances" thing is a great example of what we mean when we say that the way they read these books is painfully, idiotically literal.

"New romances" means not Feysand and Nessian, simple as that. It's not some hint about some "new" pairing with Gwyn and Az. Elriel is the "new romance" in question because they haven't been featured yet.

I am BEGGING these people to learn how to read with nuance and basic common sense.

[nikethestatue]

*whispers* SJM no longer cares about Gwyn or her story. Because the character served her purpose and is no longer needed. And yes, SJM would consider NESTA the head of the Valkyries, not Gwyn. Nesta' told Cassian early in ACOSF that she'd like to lead a battalion of females. That's the Valkyries.

Gwyn was the vehicle. She was the vehicle for Nesta's growth and healing. For Nesta finding friends. For Nesta accepting herself. For Nesta finding her strength and her abilities.

The story was about NESTA. Not Gwyn. Everything in ACOSF revolved around Nesta. Not Gwyn. Valkyries were discovered by Gwyn, who is the vehicle of delivering information, to NESTA, so Nesta could become one.

Nesta is the Manon of ACOTAR. At best, (and I can't believe I am saying this, but I have no choice) Gwyn is the equivalent of Asterin.

Asterin had her tragic story. Gwyn had her tragic story. Asterin supported, challenged and led Manon to greatness. Gwyn supported, challenged and led Nesta to greatness.

I don't know why this is not crystal clear to everyone, but SJM likes following her own patterns.

Just like Asterin didn't become an FMC of her book, neither will Gwyn.

[dietkoke]

I don’t know but if my supposed “warrior princess, the first of her name, Autumn court parentage having, river nymph with bendy bones so she can give birth, savior of Illyria, the pegasi love her” next FMC was just continuously not mentioned by anyone anywhere, I’d probably just take the L and move on…

[sakurakittypeach]

where's gwyn? i thought she was supposed to be the future of acotar and she's nowhere to be seen :(

[mabevil]

“three sisters with three brothers is too cliche and overdone”

alright bet, name three stories you’ve read with three sisters x three brothers

[cassianfanclub]

They can’t.

1) Because the don’t exist

2) Because they don’t understand what “cliche” means

[sakurakittypeach]

the deeply misogynistic idea that a woman cannot make any mistakes before being worthy of love is so prevalent in elucien/gwynriel spaces is actually crazy.

elain should be with lucien but should beg for forgiveness before they get together.

azriel should be with gwyn because he deserves better than elain and gwyn is more worthy.

like these are both frequent talking points of gwynriels and eluciens and it genuinely baffles me how they cannot see such blatant sexism.

you do not have to be unflawed to be worthy of love. you should always strive to do better and apologise where you must, (both of which elain has done), obviously but these are things we should be doing anyway because we're human.

being worthy of love isn't a number above your head that deducts a point for every mistake you make. that's ugly thinking.

when characters are flawed it makes for better story. nobody adores katara or katniss or diana of themyscira because they were immediately perfect??? that's so boring i am yawning. why do i give a fuck if someone is perfect. what story is there left to tell.

give me elain archeron with all of her cowardice and all of her kindness. i want to see her meekness and the agency with which she grows. i want her to throw duty to the wind and own her defiance.

elain archeron is imperfect and that's why she's important.

[acourtofquietdreamers]

“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑬𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒊𝒕. 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.”

…

“𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔.”

This is the last interaction we see between Elain and Azriel in ACOSF and I think it perfectly sets the stage for their romance. Their feelings have been slowly building for multiple books now and tension like that can’t be kept secret for long.

This commission by the talented thiaperezart captures the mutual yearning and desire between Elain and Azriel so beautifully! Fingers crossed we finally get to see Azriel on his knees for the woman he’s been so desperate for in the new books 💖

Art by thiaperezart on instagram and commissioned by me

Characters belong to Sarah J. Maas

@elriel-month

[cassianfanclub]

I maintain that Gwyn’s biggest haters are Gwynriels

[acourtofquietdreamers]

Elriel Month: Yearning

Art by rockieartt on instagram and commissioned by me.

Happy Elriel month everyone! We are finally getting more Elain and Az content this year 🥹 I'm anticipating a lot of yearning and angst between these two in book 6 so I wanted this commission to capture that feeling. In this piece, Elain and Az can't help but reach for each other as they pass in a corridor. Between their charged glances, words left unspoken, and brushing of hands - they are the ultimate yearners and I'm so excited to see where their story goes 💙🩷

Huge thanks to rockieartt for creating this for me! You capture Elriel so beautifully every time.

@elriel-month

[nikethestatue]

The Inner Circle are the people who STOOD IN THE CIRCLE HOLDING HANDS BEFORE THE FINAL BATTLE.

They are the people whom Rhys addressed in his final speech. They are mentioned by the order of who became part of the Inner Circle first.

Cassian, then Azriel, followed by Mor, then Amren, then Feyre. And then, Nesta and Elain.

“I believe everything happens for a reason. Whether it is decided by the Mother, or the Cauldron, or some sort of tapestry of Fate, I don't know. I don't really care. But I am grateful for it, whatever it is. Grateful that it brought you all into my life. If it hadn't... I might have become as awful as that prick we're going to face today. If I had not met an Illyrian warrior-in-training," he said to Cassian, "I would not have known the true depths of strength, of resilience, of honor and loyalty." Cassian's eyes gleamed bright. Rhys said to Azriel, "If I had not met a shadowsinger, I would not have known that it is the family you make, not the one you are born into, that matters. I would not have known what it is to truly hope, even when the world tells you to despair." Azriel bowed his head in thanks. Mor was already crying when Rhys spoke to her. "If I had not met my cousin, I would neer have learned that light can be found in even the darkest of hells. That kidness can thrive even amongst cruelty." She wiped away her teas as she nodded. I waited for Amren to offer a retort. But she was only waiting. Rhys bowed his head to her. "If I had not met a tiny monster who hoards jewels more fiercely than a firedrake..." A quite laugh from all of us at that. Rhys smiled softly. "My own power would have consumed me long ago." Rhys squeezed my hand as he looked to me at last. "And if I had not met my mate..." His words failed him as silver lined his eyes. He said down the bond, I would have waited five hundred more years for you. A thousand years. And if this was all the time we were allowed to have... The wait was worth it. He wiped away the tears sliding down my face. "I believe that everything happened, exactly the way it had to... so I could find you." He kissed another tear away.” ― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Wings and Ruin

And then, he said this:

That's it.

It's not Lucien, it's not the Valkyries, it's not Varian, or anyone else.

The original IC and the 3 sisters.

There should be no arguments about this. It's SPELLED OUT.

The books are about the IC and the Archerons.

[elainsgirl]

All I'm saying is,

Nesta tells Gwyn about the plans to go to the prison, Gwyn tells Merill...Then Briallyn shows up at the prison. Later on, Koshei himself reveals there is a spy in the NC...

Nesta tells Azriel he is the new ribbon and later on we see Gwyn stare down the ribbon as if its an enemy on a battlefield...

Elain, a seer, just so happens to gift Azriel earplugs in the same night he meets someone whose able to enchant his shadows, who are affected by music, through singing...