Leah

Average book enjoyer. Daydreamer. Trying my best. Elain and Elriel girly 🩷

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

A Court of Overgrown Ivy

🩷 An Elriel Fanfiction 🩷

This fanfiction takes place after the events of A Court of Silver Flames. It is essentially a glimpse of what I would like to see in the next ACOTAR book. I use my own headcanons but I try to follow the general world as best as I can. I switch between Elain and Azriel’s POV. Let me know what you think, I spent so much time on it! :)

All credit to Sarah J Maas for the story and characters.

✨ CHAPTER ONE ~ AZRIEL ✨

I flew for hours in the pouring rain to make it home. It had been months since I’d been in Velaris. Months since I’d seen my family and friends. Since I’d seen her. 

Once I landed and made my unexpected presence known to Rhysand, Feyre was quick to pull together an impromptu family dinner at the river house to welcome me back. Amren was begrudgingly torn away from whatever Rhys had her studying, or from bed with Varian. Mor was likely cooking up a plan to bring me to Rita’s. Cassian and Nesta flew down from the House of Wind, which I had briefly stopped by before heading to dinner. Everything was the same there, not one item out of place since I left. Not even the broken mirror had been touched. Good. Let it hang there. Let it remind me of my powerlessness and brokenness, the shattered reflection that stared back at me a painful picture of what I had become lately.

I didn’t waste much time at the House of Wind. Right as I walked through the front door to the river house, I felt my shoulders relax and my shadows dissipate, no longer needing to be on close guard. Feyre quickly greeted me with a hug, Rhys following with a clap on the shoulder. Mor eyed me with a red-lipped smile from across the room, waggling a bottle of wine tauntingly. I felt the familiar coil of her power gripping me as I met her with a carefully blank face. My mind was constantly at war with her truth magic, especially when she was near. I crossed the room and gave her a shallow yet familiar nod, slightly more formal than I usually am, grabbing one of the wine glasses in her hand. She poured some for us both and I took my first swig.

CONTINUE READING ON AO3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65332978

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

I guess what really gets me about no ACOTAR news is that they can’t even be bothered to be like “We know you guys are anxious for the title, but you’ll have to wait until August!” Or just ANYTHING.

[shadowyfawn]

Elain and Az are already living in their HOME in the townhouse 💙🩷

[meglap15]

4 times within 2 pages we have it pointed out to us that Azriel is VERY INTERESTED in whatever is outside that garden window.

THIS is yearning right here 😮‍💨😮‍💨

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

If 🩷💙 is supposed to reference Elucien and Gwynriel, why aren’t yall putting them in your bio and posts and such? Just curious. 🤪

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

SJM said she was listening to the Batman soundtrack while writing this next book.

Batman?

Bat man.

Bat. Man.

I wonder if we know any bat like men?

🦇🩷💙

We see you Sarah. Sneaky, but we see you!

[elrielffs]

Lightsingering 101 Presented by Ewriel Productions:

Lightsingers Defined As Presented in Canon Text:

Lure Defined:

EXHIBIT 1: Gwyn's Singing: Ethereal beings who will lure you

And

And

And

That's several times that Gwyn's singing is described as beckoning, calling, like a spell, a dream, while she glows.

Other hints:

And

EXHBIT 2: Azriel Bonus Chapter Parallels: Appearing as Friendly Faces when you are lost

When Nesta first meets Gwyn, she is in a bad state.

So was Azriel after the argument with Rhysand.

Nesta had most of her reactions to Gwyn singing (listed above) at the 7' o clock service.

Like, when Azriel ends up at the library...

Nesta had this reaction to Gwyn.

And Azriel:

Which we know didn't last because the next day:

Nesta's power reacted to Gwyn.

Azriel:

Nesta with Gwyn:

Azriel:

BONUS: Spark

Azriel Spark:

Other Sparks:

Cassian and Baby Wings

Feyre and Tamlin

Amarantha and Rhysand

Lorcan and Aelin:

Azriel and Gwyn:

I rest my case your honor. Something funky was going on the BC and there is more than enough ample evidence for Gwyn to be a Lightsinger.

[mabevil]

[lovelriel]

[shitwillnotbegiven]

[cassianfanclub]

[mortalfae7]

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

A Court of Overgrown Ivy

🩷 An Elriel Fanfiction 💙

✨ CHAPTER NINE ~ AZRIEL ✨

“The truth is, Elain, we shouldn’t have gone as far as we did that night.”

I knew the words were wrong the second each one left my mouth, but I couldn’t stop them from coming out of me. Uncalculated, unwanted, false.

This conversation had to happen, but my chest burned with the lie of it. Gone as far as we did? We barely touched. Didn’t even kiss. It could and should have gone way farther, that’s the reality.

My heart squeezed, physically squeezed, inside of my chest as I watched my words land on Elain’s face. She couldn’t hide a damn emotion from me, I saw all of it. Pain and anger and confusion, maybe even relief, all haunting her in the most beautiful, devastating way.

She furrowed her brow with determination, “And why is that?”

Cool, now is the part where I bring up her auburn haired mate and court politics and Rhys and all the charmingly romantic reasons why we can’t be together. Where to start?

“I couldn’t care less about your mate, you know that right?”

She rolled her eyes and shifted in her seat a bit, adding with quiet defiance “I resent that no matter what I say, he will always be tied to me, and seemingly every conversation I have in this court.” I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t love the fire that roared inside her when we talked of Lucien, because I felt it too.

“I know,” I worked to soften my tone and repeated, “I know.” She relaxed a little. For whatever reason, her trust in me ran deep, despite what an ass I’ve made of myself. I would do anything to keep that trust.

“But can you understand how it would look if the Night Court's spymaster was seen kissing the High Lord of the Autumn court's son’s mate? No matter what we said or did, it would be spun against us.” She stood then and began pacing about the living room with the back of her hand pressed to her forehead. I quickly stood with her, always making sure we remained on the same level. “None of that is right or fair to you, I’ve seen that truth every day since you were made. But the last thing we need is politics and strategy and male egos impacting your life. So no. We shouldn’t have gone that far, not in the same house as your mate. But believe me when I say that all I want to do is protect the peace you have cultivated for yourself here in Prythian.”

I decided to spare her other details--the harshness and cruelty Rhys spit at me that night, driving the biggest wedge in our relationship since… Well, since ever. Regardless of Rhys’ order, there was some bit of reason to it. The drama that would come out of us being together would be a nightmare to handle. And I doubted the prospect of a blood duel would be received well by her either.

A few tears slid slowly down Elain’s pink cheeks as she came to a stop a few feet in front of me. A long stretch of silence permeated the space. All I could hear were the steadying breaths pouring in and out of her slightly quivering lips, mixed with the pattering of rain drops. Normally, I welcomed the beautiful quiet that came out of us being together. But now? Now, it was starting to eat me whole.

“Say something, please.”

“So what? Lucien cannot see us together. That is simple to avoid.”

“Not just Lucien though, anyone. Anyone could spread gossip. Anyone could have an opinion on it.”

“That is…. Well that is bullshit, to be quite honest.” I’m not sure I had ever heard her swear before, but the vulgarity was well placed. It was bullshit.

She continued. “So all that…. That’s what makes me a mistake?”

CONTINUE READING ON AO3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65332978/chapters/215228781#workskin

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

A Court of Overgrown Ivy

🩷 An Elriel Fanfiction 💙

✨ CHAPTER 8 ~ ELAIN ✨

I rapped my knuckles nervously on my thigh as I sat waiting for Azriel to arrive. He should be here any moment. The sun had just barely set over the crest of the mountains that surrounded Velaris, and the night sky was beginning to reach its peak form as light slowly dwindled to reveal millions of stars. I always found dusk a particularly comforting part of the day, but my nervousness to host the shadow singer was far too strong to enjoy these kinds of pleasantries.

Though the townhouse was warded, I had already gone through my normal evening routine, double checking that every lock on every door and window was securely fastened, and drawn every curtain closed. The lighting was low, just as I preferred it, with only a few Faelights in the form of lamps casting a soft glow over the room, along with numerous candles that smelled of pine and snow.

Before I lived here, it wasn’t uncommon for everything to remain open, with all curtains pulled back and windows ajar. I wondered, then, if this place would seem sort of sad to Az when he got here. My conservative approach was far less welcoming, as if I was holding up in some sort of bunker waiting out an apocalypse. But I had my reasons, and I hoped Azriel would understand that.

I lit a few more candles and stoked the fire just to make sure it felt cozy, and that’s when I finally heard the soft tapping at the back patio door. The knock was polite, if not a little quiet.

I stood and smoothed my dress, its soft ruffles and sweetheart neckline paired with a brown sweater to dress it down a little bit. The floral pattern was green and white, perfect for late Spring and the fast approaching summer. The light fabric stopped right at the ground, obscuring my casually slippered footwear, and my not so casually wrapped foot —a topic I was hoping we would avoid all together tonight.

I peeked through the curtain to ensure it was Azriel, and was delighted to recognize his broad, winged frame.

I opened the door, inviting in a rush of the crisp, late spring air, some of which flung a few pieces of my hair across my face. Graceful.

“Hi.” It was all I could manage. How is one to greet the most handsome male in all of Prythian?

I took in his outfit, more casual than I normally see him—a dark green button up rolled to his elbows, a black pant, and leather oxfords. He was breathtakingly attractive without all his armor on, a slightly more vulnerable and unmasked version of the famed shadowsinger.

I hadn’t realized that we had both just been standing there, not saying anything for quite a few seconds now. I tried not to read into it, tried to avoid anything resembling hope all together.

He cleared his throat, seeming to snap back into reality too. “Hello, Elain.”

CONTINUE READING ON AO3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65332978/chapters/212279056#workskin

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

Something that also confuses me about Elucien lovers is their arguement that Lucien deserves a happy ending…. Guys, not even Lucien is interested in this relationship. He does not want this. What part about Feyre going into his head made you think he wants Elain?

[jasmineandshadows]

18 Ways Sarah J. Maas's Call Her Daddy Interview Reinforced Elriel

My thoughts on the interview, presented to you in chronological order:

1. SJM Is Not Doing Fan Service Gwynriel: Gwynriels love to say that Gwynriel is the "most popular ship." Even if it is (it's not), that wouldn't matter, because SJM made it clear she doesn't do fan service:

“And like I don't ever want to hear like, oh, we need to change this to appeal to like XYZ demographic. I'm like, no, that's not how you make art. That's not how I create my stories." 

2. Nobody Should Dismiss Elriel’s Bonus Interaction As “Just Smut”: We’ve heard it a million times; “the interaction between Elain and Azriel in the bonus is ‘just lust!’” But SJM stressed that her spicy scenes are far more than “just sex.” For example, Nessian’s sex scenes are

“intensely tied to their own emotional journeys and their own journey as a couple. And so like this dismissal of it, like, it's just like smut, like whatever. I'm like, it's fun. I design it to be entertaining, but it's also moving and like I write like what I consider to be like cool shit that like means something to me.” 

Yep, Elriel are hot for each other. But the bonus was just the tip of the iceberg and shouldn’t be dismissed as “just lust.”

3. Stop Saying That Az Should Be With Someone Other Than the “Boring Gardener” or the “Braindead Baker.”: As SJM herself said, “And I find that there is a tendency for people to roll their eyes at things that bring joy and bring women joy especially, and it pisses me the fuck off constantly.”

4. It Doesn’t Matter Whether or Not Elain Can Give Birth to a Winged Baby: I can’t believe this still needs to be said in the year of our lord 2026, but it doesn’t matter whether Elain can give birth to Azriel’s child. As Sarah noted,

“Like someone being in a loving relationship with a person and choosing to bring a new life into this world and to share their world and open up their hearts to someone. That's a beautiful thing. Like however you make a family, like that is a beautiful, wonderful thing.”

5. Stop Relying on a FB Comment from 2017 As Proof of Elucien: SJM reminded us all of how she can’t be forthcoming with readers sometimes for fear of spoiling future books: 

But then like of course like it was so funny when like the first ACOTAR came out and people were like, I love Tamlin so much. I got a tattoo of him and like knowing what like was going to happen. I was like, I'm so happy. Like I'm so happy for you. Also, I'm so sorry. I will give you. I will pay for the tattoo laser removal in like a year. 

Of course Sarah wasn’t going to admit to everyone in 2017 that Elucien was dead in the water, but they were and they remain so. Stop clinging to that comment. 

6. Hot Characters Get Hot Names (and “Gwyn Berdara” Is Not a Hot Person Name): Okay, this one is a little tongue in cheek, but I had to laugh at this exchange:

Alex: Is it true that you, like, part of your process is you sit and ponder how sexy the character's potential name is before officially giving it to them? 

SJM: Oh, yeah . . . But, like, usually, like, if, like, someone's attractive, I'm like, okay. let's find the hottest name. 

Let’s be real–Gwyn Berdara? Least sexy name in the world. Not FMC material. 😂

7. Stop Trying to Make Tamlain a Thing: For all you, “Elain loves flowers, she belongs with Tamlin” truthers, let’s remember the part where SJM said,

“I've had so many women, especially. including some, like, very dear friends of mine who've, like, come up and told me about, like, how they saw their own abusive relationship mirrored in Tamlin.”

Does this sound like someone she’s going to pair Elain with? 

8. Men on Their Knees = Good Sign: Sarah said, “I think it's, like, really kind of hot that, like, the super powerful dude, like, wants to get on his knees in front of his lady.” Certainly reminds you of how a certain Spymaster would “beg on his knees for a chance to taste” Elain, doesn’t it? 

9. Elain’s Mating Bond with Lucien Does Not Mean “True Love”: I’ll just leave this little nugget here:

“there's a biological component to it where like you can be mated to someone that is like not actually your true love. Like there's like true, true mates and then there's kind of like nature made a mistake.”

RIP, Elucien. 

10. Elucien = Forced Marriage: “Elain’s got like her own trauma and shit that she's going through right now. I mean, like, imagine, like, being transformed into, like, a whole new body, a whole new lifestyle. And, like, surprise, like, you've been, like, forcibly, like essentially married to like a stranger . . .”

Calling something a forced marriage doesn’t scream peak romance to me! 

11. Lucien = Complicit in Elain’s Trauma: Sarah referred to Lucien as someone who “was like involved in bringing [Elain] into this world and like betraying [her] and like shoving [her] into the cauldron.” Tough day for all the “my baby Lulu is an innocent precious cinnamon roll” boy moms out there!  

12. The Face Sarah Made When She Spoke About Elain’s Unwanted Bond: 

I'll just leave this here 🤭

13. The Elucien Bond Is Inferior to the Feysand and Nessian Bonds: Sarah noted that, unlike what Elain has experienced, with “Feyre and Nesta, it was so easy for them … nature picked right.” Guess we know who nature picked wrong for! 

14. The “SJM Is a Fated Mates Author!” Argument Is Nonsense: Sarah made clear that she doesn’t like to be pigeonholed into telling any particular type of story. Talking about the upcoming books, she said: 

“And I had a vision from the start of, like, what it would be, how I would deliver it to you guys. And, like, that's what I want to do. And, like, getting to be in the driver's seat and decide, like, this is how I want to tell stories . . . Like, why do we have to, like, stick to, like, these boxes of, like, this is how you tell a story from A to B. I'm like, no, like, what if we do something different?” 

She has told fated mates stories before, sure, but she made clear that she can tell Elain’s story any way she wants to (time to snip that bond, Elain!)

15. RIP, “Azriel’s Book” Truthers: Sarah emphasized that “these books are about women coming into their power.” Seems clear to me! 

16. Bryceriel Found Dead in a Ditch: 

Alex: Well, there are a lot of theories that Bryce's true mate is Azriel. Is there any truth to that? 

SJM: No. I can tell you right . . . I'm sorry to anyone that shipped that and has been like ride or die with that but like no it's Bryce and Hunt.

17. Pinterest Boards Shouldn’t Be Taken That Seriously: For everyone out there clinging to ancient pins that “prove” Elucien and Gwynriel, SJM seemed utterly mystified that people are looking at / caring about Pinterest. 

Alex: We've all seen the now deleted Twilight of the Gods Pinterest board. 

Sarah: Really?!? [tone of disbelief]

She also noted that sometimes she has pins for “ideas” where “sometimes I want to share that with the world and sometimes I don't.” It was clear that she used pinterest for a variety of random things that often don’t come to fruition. 

18. Gwyn's Name Was Not Mentioned Once: You’re telling me Gwyn is going to be one half of the couple anchoring multiple upcoming books and Sarah doesn’t even mention her ONCE?!?! Nah. No way. (And, no, she’s not not mentioning Gwyn in order to avoid “spoiling” the Gwynriel book, cope harder.)  

In summary: I think there’s a reason Elriels have been celebrating today, whereas Eluciens and Gwynriels have been sending crazy anons, quietly admitting their ships are dead on Reddit, and suddenly being too “sick” and “busy” to comment on the pod. Welcome to the era of Elriel! 💙🩷

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

Take a shot everytime SJM says “like” when answering the Elain x Lucien mating bond….. Diva was NERVOUS!!

RIP Elucien

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

“You came for me?”

GIRL, we are ALL coming for you. See you in October 😘

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

Newsflash divas! SJM’s insta post is literally 3 mountains 🥰

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

[iwishthatitwouldrain]

I’m crashing out but I’m looking for the positives