Elain Archeron, beloved sweetheart of the quaint town of Hewn Hills, yearns for a life beyond the constraints and expectations placed upon her by her family and community. Azriel Rosehall, a captivating yet misunderstood outsider, struggles with the prejudices of the town as he endeavors to forge his own destiny. Drawn to each other by an undeniable connection, Elain and Azriel are determined to be together, even if it means bringing trouble to the charming small-town.
Inspired by Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
“Everything that's worth having is some trouble." - L.M. Montgomery
Azriel doesn’t need someone to understand his darkness. Azriel needs someone who thinks he’s MORE than the darkness he was forced into. More than a killing machine, a torturer. This man has never even been given the chance to be anything else.
Of course he’s going to become obsessed with the sweet, kind female who refused to be made hard by the things that were done to her. The female who was comforted by his presence, who looked at his biggest insecurity and couldn’t help but call it beautiful. Someone, he desperately hopes, that can see every part of him and maybe still love him.
To her, he isn’t a shadowsinger. He’s just Azriel.
In this post I’m gonna connect the wording of chapter 52 to Azriel’s bonus chapter and connection of sirens to chapter 52
Before we start the post these are the posts I will connect to as we go...
Lightsinger part1 , part2 by @silverlinedeyes
Glowed quietly
Cauldron’s song and Gwyn’s singing
1.
Chapter 52 Acosf
A bell rang seven times somewhere nearby, echoing through the stones, through Nesta’s feet. Each peal was a summons, a call to focus. Everyone rose at the seventh peal. Nesta gazed at the sea of pale robes and blue stones as the entire room seemed to suck in a breath.
Azriel's Bonus Chapter
Instead, he found himself at the library beneath the House of Wind, standing before Clotho as the clock chimed seven in the evening.
In Acosf chapter 52 there is a bell that rings seven times and from Gwyn we know that they hold services at dawn and dusk.
Gwyn huffed a soft laugh. “In part. We honor the Mother, and the Cauldron, and the Forces That Be. We have a service at dawn and at dusk, and on every holy day.”
so it is interesting that when they held the service Nesta heard a bell ring seven times and Azriel arrived at the library when clocked chimed seven in the evening.
2.
Chapter 52 Acosf
Not from any instruments, but from all around. As if they were one voice, the priestesses began to sing, a wave of sparkling sound. Nesta could only gape at the lovely melody, the voices from the front of the cavern leading it, lifting higher than the others. Gwyn sang, chin high, a faint glow seeming to radiate from her.
Azriel's Bonus Chapter
Something sparked in Azriel's chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left. He could picture it, though, as he ascended the stairs back to the House proper. How Gwyn's teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason... he could see it. But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.
In this part what took me back because as you can see...the same words are used? when you look at the context it feels different but when it comes to how the Azriel's bonus chapter was build upon silent music and singing and all...this gave me a pause. I wonder if there is more to it.
3.
Azriel's bonus chapter
He could picture it, though, as he ascended the stairs back to the House proper. How Gwyn's teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason... he could see it.
Chapter 52 acosf
She’d never heard such music. Like a spell, a dream given form. The entire room sang, each voice resonating through the stone
as you can see Nesta says that music is like a "spell, a dream given form" like how Azriel could picture Gwyn's eyes lighting up.
Gwyn’s voice rose again, holding such a high note it was like a ray of pure light, piercing and summoning. Two other voices rolled in to join, pulsing around that repeated high note, the harp still strumming, voices whispering and flowing, lulling Nesta down, down, down into a pure, ancient place where no outside world existed, no time, nothing but the music in her bones, the stones at her feet, her side, overhead. The music took form behind Nesta’s eyes as the priestesses sang lyrics in languages so old, no one voiced them anymore. She saw what the song spoke of: mossy earth and golden sun, clear rivers and the deep shadows of an ancient forest.
Again in here the music "took form behind Nesta's eyes" and she "saw what the song spoke of" like Azriel picturing Gwyn's eyes.
Another thing is that those orange highlighted parts.
Summoning literally means "call an image to mind" as @silverlinedeyes pointed in her lightsinger part one post I'd linked above and it is exactly what Azriel saw in his bonus chapter.
But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.
and I made a post about how glowing "quietly" feels odd and added the link above as well.
Lulling is similar to settle as you can see in the screenshot.
and in Azriel's chapter we literally have that.
Gwyn smiled broadly. "Thank you." Azriel dipped his head in a sketch of a bow, something restless settling in him. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch.
I made a post about how this settling could be connected to another "settling" scene with Nesta but it is not in chapter 52 so I'm not including that in this post.
4.
Chapter 52 Acosf
This one was a lilting chant, the words tumbling over each other like water dancing down a mountainside, and Nesta’s foot tapped on the ground in time to the beat. Nesta could have sworn that beneath the hem of Gwyn’s robe, the priestess’s foot was doing the same. The words and the countermelodies danced around and around, until the walls hummed with the music, until the stone seemed to be singing it back.
Azriel's bonus chapter
Azriel entered the warmth of the stairwell, and as he descended, he could have sworn a faint, beautiful singing followed him. Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.
both scene have gwyn in it...both scene have singing in it...both scene have "could have sworn"...both scene has singing back to it. It is a bit weird?
Now onto the siren connection.
we will go part by part in here as well.
1.
While I was looking up sirens etymology parts stood out to me.
The etymology of the name is contested. Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin.[4] Others connect the name to σειρά (seirá, "rope, cord") and εἴρω (eírō, "to tie, join, fasten"), resulting in the meaning "binder, entangler",[5][better source needed] i.e. one who binds or entangles through magic song. This could be connected to the famous scene of Odysseus being bound to the mast of his ship, in order to resist their song.
and in Chapter 52 of Acosf we have this
It was like a braid, the song—a plait of seven voices, weaving in and out, individual strands that together formed a pattern. Halfway through it, a drum appeared in the hand of the singer on the far left. A harp began strumming in the hands of one on the far right. A lute sounded from the center. She’d never heard such music. Like a spell, a dream given form. The entire room sang, each voice resonating through the stone.
sirens are described as "binder, entangler" and the music in acosf described as individual strands that together formed a pattern. and sirens bind or entagnle through magic song and Nesta explains the music as "like a spell, dream given form"
2.
Another thing is that Sirens are described as birds.
The sirens of Greek mythology first appeared in Homer's Odyssey, where Homer did not provide any physical descriptions, and their visual appearance was left to the readers' imagination. It was Apollonius of Rhodes in Argonautica (3rd century BC) who described the sirens in writing as part woman and part bird By the 7th century BC, sirens were regularly depicted in art as human-headed birds.
and in Chapter 52 Gwyn's voice is described as a bird.
Gwyn’s voice soared like a bird through the cavern as she started the third song with a solo, and Nesta closed her eyes, leaning into the music, shutting out one sense in order to luxuriate in the sound of her friend. Something beckoned in Gwyn’s song, in a way the others’ hadn’t. Like Gwyn was calling only to her, her voice full of sunshine and joy and unshakable determination. Nesta had never heard a voice like Gwyn’s—by turns trained and wild, as if there was so much sound fighting to break free of Gwyn that she couldn’t quite contain it all. As if the sound needed to be loose in the world.
and the orange part is interesting because Nesta singles out Gwyn's voice from others. As if her singing is different then other. I touched upon this in my Cauldron's song and Gwyn's singing post. In that post Cauldron's luring song parallels to Gwyn's singing as described in that scene.
As you can see Nesta describes Gwyn's beckoning song as "in a way others' hadn't" and "like Gwyn was calling only to her" and with Cauldron's luring it presented itself as Graysen to Elain...beckoned her and told her he'd come for her.
Also beckoning is literally means "lure,charm, entice.."
3.
Lasty we have this about sirens
The early Christian euhemerist interpretation of mythologized human beings received a long-lasting boost from the Etymologiae by Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636): They [the Greeks] imagine that "there were three sirens, part virgins, part birds," with wings and claws. "One of them sang, another played the flute, the third the lyre. They drew sailors, decoyed by song, to shipwreck. According to the truth, however, they were prostitutes who led travelers down to poverty and were said to impose shipwreck on them." They had wings and claws because Love flies and wounds. They are said to have stayed in the waves because a wave created Venus.
one sang...one played the flute...the third the lyre
we are gonna look at the paragraph before the bird connection also I'm adding that paragraph as well.
They finished, and started another song—led into it by a rolling drumbeat, then a single voice. Then the harp joined, a second voice with it. Then the lute, along with a third. The three sang around and into each other, another braid of voices and melodies. They reached the second verse, and the other four joined in, the room with them. Gwyn’s voice soared like a bird through the cavern as she started the third song with a solo, and Nesta closed her eyes, leaning into the music, shutting out one sense in order to luxuriate in the sound of her friend. Something beckoned in Gwyn’s song, in a way the others’ hadn’t. Like Gwyn was calling only to her, her voice full of sunshine and joy and unshakable determination. Nesta had never heard a voice like Gwyn’s—by turns trained and wild, as if there was so much sound fighting to break free of Gwyn that she couldn’t quite contain it all. As if the sound needed to be loose in the world.
a single voice...harp joined...then the lute...
like the three sirens I added above.
one sang...one played the flute...the third the lyre
And again the music is describe as a "braid" like the first point how the sirens were described as ""binder, entangler", and they bind or entangle through magic song. and right after it Gwyn's voice describes as a bird which is what sirens are described as.
so that's about it.
Special thanks to @offtorivendell . Thanks for always listening my rambling thoughts about these theories and helping me.
"Elain can change her mind because it's fiction. Fiction isn't activism!"
Let's explore this.
Rhys put Feyre on equal footing with him as the first High Lady in Prythian. The message: women are equal to men.
All three bat boys are fighting for Illyrian women to have equal treatment (training, no wing clipping and promoting equal movement). The message: women's rights should not be hampered.
Tarquin has a conversation with Rhys about how regressive Prythian is and how they want to change it. The message: regressive societies are worth rebelling against and the status quo should not be tolerated.
Beron is a villain. He beats his wife, his court is patriarchal, and they have archaic rules. The message: the patriarchy and its heavy-handed approach of subjugating women is villainous.
Tamlin tried to force Feyre into a traditional role and didn't want her to use her power. He also imposed harsh rules on the poor, further marginalizing people who were already struggling. He's alone. The message: the patriarchy and its approach of subjugating women and further marginalizing the poor are not to be celebrated, and those societies will crumble under the weight of bad policies.
In closing, fiction is activism.
#you just say it's not because your ship has no chance of happening #ps when you say it's just fiction you're waving a white flag
“it’s just training, I swear. I mean, who else could train a seer in stealth? trust me.”
and then it’s like scene after scene of them undressing each other with their eyes, touches lingering longer than they should, a kiss brushed over a shoulder while adjusting posture— OH MY GOD I CANNOT WAIT
I find it interesting that the people who hate Elain for being quiet, introverted and not as vocal about her thoughts and feelings, are the same ones who revere and admire Azriel for possessing these same exact mannerisms and traits.
When a woman shows reticence and reservedness, she’s labeled as ‘boring’, ‘uninteresting’ and ‘plain’, but when a man exhibits these same exact qualities, he’s ‘mysterious’, ‘nuanced’ and ‘complex’.
I love and admire both Azriel and Elain for these qualities - in fact, I think that’s what makes them such a good fit for each other. They’re very similar - but they also have many differences between them that will inspire and initiate such beautiful growth and healing within them together.
I wish that Elain was shown the same respect as Azriel for being soft-spoken and exhibiting a more quiet demeanor.
I keep getting tiktoks/reels about the literacy crisis and people misinterpreting popular songs. A perfect example is Olivia Dean's "A Couple Minutes" being used as a wedding song. 💀
It makes me think of Guilty as Sin and how antis think it must be for their ship. But if you listen to the song and comprehend the very obvious lyrics, it's clearly an Elriel song.
It's a song about loving someone you shouldn't. It's about society expecting a woman to love the person they approve of despite how she may feel. It's about longing to break out of a mold created for you. It's about secret fantasies and hidden desires. It's about a quiet understanding, "a vow we both uphold somehow."
None of that fits the other ships. When SJM posted it on Instagram, it was a hint about who the next books would be about. Arguing otherwise is like waving a big red flag announcing you don't know how to interpret very straightforward messaging.
I've also yet to hear a coherent argument on how multi-POV would be "surprising" to an author who has mainly written multi-POV (the majority of Throne of Glass, all of Crescent City) and who has even already done so within the ACOTAR series (ACOFAS).
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