Lemme just say that I am freakin' OBSESSED with Apaixonar!!!! And I absolutely cannot wait for the next chapter! I just finished every available chapter in one go, and now I feel empty and I need MOAAAAAARRRR!!! I NEED MORE AZRIEL AND WINNIE FATHER/DAUGHTER DUO AND I NEED MORE ELRIEL JUST SHUT UP AND KISS MOMENTS!!! PLEASE give us more wholesome snippets from the vault to make up for the sadness that is Chapters 18-20
ONE GO?! WOMAN! THAT TOOK NEARLY TWO YEARS TO WRITE! One GOOOOOO???? OF COURSE YOU NEED MORE— YOU JUST OVERDOSED ON THAT SHIT 😲YOU NEED REHAB TO FLUSH IT OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM. I shouldn’t be encouraging this with snippets from The Vault!
..Here you go.
“The excitement on the little girl's face is what has Azriel joining them on the ground, to see it up close, see that joy and hear that childish laughter first- erasing the memories of her cries, the less savory moments of grief he had witnessed first-hand. He leans against the armchair next to the tree, legs sprawled out before him, eyes trained on Winnie and Elain. Whose eyes are softened by accomplishment, a sort of happy tired relief in her smile as she hands Winnie one wrapped present after the other. He resists the urge to run back the strands of hair from her face, and contents in the exploding sensation filling up his chest.
First is Nesta's gift; a basket of six handmade dolls with dresses and nightgowns, of varying colors and sizes, and a couple of storybooks that Winnie shows him excitedly, unable to contain her joy as she hugs her new dolls and giggles and even jumps a little. Then is Cassian's gift of a vet playset with little soft pets to look after, followed by a popular set of dresses from Feyre.
Rhys outdoes himself- a fact evident from the way Winnie screams hoarsely as she bounces up and down, clapping her hands together and shrieking as Elain laughs. The Disney castle playset is an original monstrosity going nearly three foot by three, almost as tall as Winnie is, with intricate details and little easter eggs of windows that open into little rooms, doors that open, hallways leading into more hallways. Setting it up will take some time, Azriel figures, but for now, Winnie is content to ogle the pictures on the large box and pat her grinning cheeks.
"You give her that," Elain hands him the wrapped present he had brought, and suddenly he feels slightly nervous and off-put about handing the girl his little gift after she's just unwrapped Rhys's. But, the more the merrier, he figures, getting her attention and handing her the box.
It's the widening of her eyes when he offers the gift that does his heart in. As if she hasn't expected one from him- come to think of it, she probably hasn't clocked the fact that these gifts are from the people Elain said they were.
Winnie carefully unwraps it, sitting next to his thighs and croons once the box is revealed. She gasps, taking in the pictures on the yellow box, the number of dinosaur figures. Azriel admittedly spent more time than sensible tracking down the best manufacturers of dinosaur toys, sorting through contestants in search of the perfect complete set of the species-no one really makes 700 types, but he found the one that was most accurate, child friendly, and highest in quality: a company in Finland that had custom made the set he needed, customed the chest it came in and engraved a little message on the bottom of each figure.
For Winnie. With love, Az.
"Come on," he laughs when she stares at the chest, painted in a scene of the dinosaurs. "Open it."
"Oh, Az," Elain's voice is hushed as Winnie opens the chest, and out comes little shelves upon which the figures are fixed to through clear grips. The shelves can be pulled upright, so that they are stacked like a true bookshelf, and can be folded back in for easier packing and travel.
"Dinos," Winnie breathes out, hushed, a slow wide grin splitting her face apart. "Azeel- dinos!"
"I figured there's an obsession there," he taps her nose, and reaches into the bag, finding the complementary metal dinosaur pin from the company. She holds her breath while he pins it to her dress. Then, she seems to grapple with the fact that she is awake, and this is not a dream, because the next thing he knows, he's being held in an unwavering chokehold and Winnie is saying 'thank you' over and over and he's smiling -when did he start smiling like that?- and Elain's beaming.
"Oh baby, look at all the species," Elain amuses her daughter when she finally lets go of him. There are little tags on the shelves before each figure, displaying their name. "You have so many now!"
"Yes!" Winnie giggles and it's the best sound he can ever hear.
"Oh, Az, where did you find these- they're perfect. Thank you."
"It's- it's nothing," he shrugs, forgetting that he did spend a small fortune on it, not to mention the additional small fortune he paid to have it shipped as quickly as possible. Forgets all that in the moment Winnie is utterly and incandescently happy. She gives him a more sensible hug after she’s ogled all her gifts thoroughly and inspected them. Elain opens her own gifts, and Winnie abandoned her new trove to come sit in Azriel’s lap and wrap her arms around him.”
— The Vault Says Hi and She Is Very Accomplished About Showing You This Because You’re Not Supposed To But We Both Acknowledge The Fact That You Need Steady Weaning Off This Story And Not Cruel Abrupt Absence. Say Hi Back.
"Elain's so useless and bland, at this point she's just mooching off her family"
Maaaaaaaybe if her own sisters did not keep trying to coddle her by forbidding her from even lifting a pinky finger to help out on their missions, even when she herself volunteered, then perhaps we could've had an opportunity to see what she could really do?? I mean, what was she supposed to do when she's always being kept on watch?? Run away from home like a bratty teenager??
I highly doubt that she'd want to add to the stress her family's already suffering from, especially while Nesta was drowning in depression.
And isn't she maintaining their home's gardens? Cooking and baking with Nuala and Cerridwen? Didn't Cassian mention that she and Feyre often went out to help other people with their gardens?
Perhaps domestic things may seem useless and boring to you antis, but I hardly consider that as "mooching off" when she's trying to contribute what little good she could offer to her family and community.
At this point, it's hilarious seeing all these antis trying their best to post as many hate comments under Elain/Elriel posts as possible, as if it'll bring their ships one step closer to becoming canon.
I'd REALLY love to see what new nonsense they'll be spouting when we finally get to Elain's book and/or POV, because they're starting to get boring and uncreative.
Elain Archeron, and the Choices from the Past: Duty or Freedom?
((Disclaimer: This is all just pure speculation from my part. This is not meant to be a deep analysis on Elain’s character and her ships, but rather a curiosity on how other people’s past choices might affect Elain’s future. Though there are mentions of the mating bond between Elucien being forced upon them, I am in no way implying that Lucien is a terrible person, because he isn’t. This is also written under the assumption that Elriel share romantic feelings for each other based on the reveal in ACOSF bonus chapter, so if you cannot accept that and choose to remain completely biased, then this is not for you. Lastly, please excuse any grammatical errors that you may find.))
After rereading the whole ACOTAR series, I couldn’t help but ponder more about the Azriel-Elain-Lucien love triangle, as I’m sure a lot of people have. It’s something that has been brewing as early as ACOWAR, or perhaps even ACOMAF. And with the most recent confirmation in Azriel’s Bonus Chapter that Azriel and Elain do share some romantic feelings for one another despite the latter being Lucien’s mate, I think we’re all just waiting in bated breath as to whether or not Elain chooses to break her mating bond with Lucien, or give up on Azriel and choose to give Lucien a fair chance.
Perhaps she’ll choose neither, of which I highly doubt, but cannot disregard as a possibility.
Of course, that’s not to say that either males could not also alter their decisions to be with her themselves, regardless of her feelings. That is also not to say that Elain’s romance is the biggest and most important dilemma that she has to face in her storyline. No, I believe that she still has a lot to work on within herself, to accept her flaws, and discover what exactly she wants to do with her powers moving forward.
But it is clear that among the three, Elain has the bigger sway in this love story, and that whoever she chooses, should both men still choose to be available, would greatly impact the path to her future.
Will she ultimately choose duty towards her family and Court through accepting the mating bond, or will she choose her own freedom to love whomever she wants regardless of the political ramifications?
But then I noticed something curious. Elain isn’t the first person who had to go through this dilemma. There are two other females who we know have encountered the same problem. One chose freedom, and the other chose duty. Coincidentally, they both are connected respectively to the same two males who are currently involved in Elain’s love triangle.
The first is Morrigan, who is the female Azriel loved for more than 500 years. The other is the unnamed Lady of Autumn Court, who is Lucien’s mother.
What do these two females have in common with Elain, and with each other?
All three were groomed at a young age to eventually become trophy wives, brood mares if you will, meant only to further political gain for their families’ advantage.
They are/were bound to men of the Autumn Court against their wishes, either through arranged marriage or the mating bond. (Elain to Lucien, Mor to Eris, and Lady to Beron)
All three have/had secret lovers that they could not have (Mor to Andromache, Lady to Helion, and Elain to Azriel)
Mor’s power is Truth. Elain’s revealed to be a Seer. These two have a connection to both Azriel and “truth”, but both are ironically not willing to act on their own secrets.
Coincidentally, the two males who got in the way between Mor and Eris and Elain and Lucien are both Illyrian bastards, Cassian and Azriel. Lucien himself is implied to be an illegitimate son, sired by Helion of the Day Court. It would be interesting and quite exciting to see how Beron reacts when he finds out just how much illegitimate bastards have blown his pride.
Mor and the Lady both had a fling with Helion at least once for various reasons.
The Lady and Elain were both described by their loved ones to be bright and smiley in nature. That is, before they ended up tied to Beron and Lucien respectively, which causes them to shrink and withdraw to themselves whenever they’re in their presence. Mor herself is one of the more open and fun-loving Fae among the Inner Court. The only time she withers into silence is when Eris is around, no matter how much time has passed since her traumatic experience.
Elain and the Lady both have/had two sisters who loved and prioritized them above their lives. The Lady’s sisters sacrificed themselves to give Lady a running chance at survival while they were being ambushed by Hybern. While Nesta and Feyre will do anything in their power to protect Elain from danger, refusing to let her participate directly in their operations as much as possible.
While attacked/kidnapped by Hybern’s forces, Elain and the Lady were, much to their surprise, saved by the very males they secretly/eventually loved (Helion and Azriel)
I’m not entirely sure if I’ve listed down everything they have in common. But my point is, I believe that it is too much of a coincidence for all of these similarities and connections to exist, that I’m pretty sure that these will affect or perhaps be a forecast of what Elain’s future will be.
Will she choose to be like Mor, who gained freedom from her engagement to Eris and her terrible family, but at the cost of suffering the pain and humiliation of rejection and abandonment? Or will she follow the Lady of the Autumn Court, who chose duty out of fear for her lover and their son’s safety, but has to suffer her husband’s beatings in silence for the rest of Beron’s life.
Will Elain repeat the same choices and suffer similar consequences as Mor and the Lady? (Not under Lucien’s hand, but by his family’s cruel treatment) Or will she successfully forge a new path for herself and in the end be able to choose both love and duty? Or none at all?
With Rhysand mentioning the possibility of an Autumn Court Blood Duel during Azriel’s bonus chapter, should the latter choose to fight for his right to love Elain, I will highly be surprised if this important event does not happen at all in the next book, or perhaps the one after that. Whether or not it will be Azriel VS Lucien and/or Helion VS Beron (since these two are the only possible mate VS non-mate cases at the moment), I’m fairly sure that Sarah’s deliberate mentions of the Blood Duel will lead to it happening quite soon. And I believe this will provide much closure to many characters’ arcs, most especially the Lady of the Autumn Court and Lucien’s birthright.
Perhaps the results of the Blood Duel will also offset a new set of predicaments for the sixth (final?) book to resolve, which will either help or hinder Koschei’s cause. What I am sure about is that whether we like it or not, Elain’s choices will be vital to how the story will turn out moving forward.
But again, this is all just speculation on my part. For now, all we can do is wait..
“You know them better than I do. But I will say that Lucien is loyal—fiercely so.” “So is Azriel.”
“So it can’t be a perfect system of matching. What if”—I jerked my chin toward the window, to my sister and the shadowsinger in the garden—“that is what she needs? Is there no free will? ”
Mor
“You honestly think he’d ever give up Truth-Teller?” “He gave it to Elain,” Mor said, admiring a moonstone necklace in the counter’s glass case.
“Mor hummed to herself.”
“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 … ”
“Azriel’s hazel eyes churned as he studied my sister, her too-thin body. And without a word, he winnowed away. Mor watched the space where he’d been standing long after he was gone.”
Lucien
“But Lucien’s attention went right to the hallway toward the back, his nostrils flaring as he scented Elain’s direction. And who she’d gone with. A low snarl slipped out of him—”
Rhys
“Cassian gawked at Azriel, and I wondered how often Azriel had lent out that blade—Never, Rhys said from where he finished buckling on his own weapons against the side of the wagon. I have never once seen Azriel let another person touch that knife.”
“None of us bother to wait for everyone to sit, least of all Cassian. “It can strike at odd times.”
“Snarl all you want.” Rhys leaned back in his chair. “But if I see you panting after her again, I’ll make you regret it.”
Nesta
“Nesta monitored him like a hawk, but kept silent as Elain took his hand, and out they went.”
“Nesta slid her gaze to the shadowsinger. Azriel’s hazel eyes glowed golden in the shadows. Nesta said, “Then you will die.” Azriel only repeated, rage glazing that stare, “I’m getting her back.”
“Letting him see that she understood why he stood in the doorway, why he wouldn’t go near the fire.
His secret to tell, never hers. Azriel’s face remained neutral. So Nesta gave him a small nod.”
Cassian
“As if he’d given up. After five hundred years, he’d somehow given up. Cassian couldn’t think why.”
.
.
.
You really are going to be the last to figure it out huh? It’s a good thing you are pretty Cass…
I bet this is going to continue being a running joke in the next book! Cassian would probably continue being so clueless, while Nesta and the others round out bets on when exactly he's going to figure it out... and only when he literally sees Azriel and Elain kiss right smack in front of him does he go "WTF?!?!?! SINCE WHEN???"
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