BookverseCAT

Since this was brought up a few days ago I cannot get the idea out my head that Sarah is basing Elriel’s story on Sleeping Beauty, and now we know she hid crumbs in her other books, alongside a quick browse of her pinterest boards it seems more and more likely! Especially since she loves her retellings.

A daughter was born, and they called her Aurora. Yes, they named her after the dawn for she filled their lives with sunshine. 

Listen well, all of you. The princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who know her. She’ll walk in springtime wherever she goes!

There are so many parallels between Elain and Aurora, they are both beloved by all, kind creatures who thrive in springtime. Aurora is named for after the dawn because she filled their lives with sunshine, A) tell me this isn’t Elain and B) the meaning of her name;

Elaine as a girl’s name is of Greek origin meaning “sun ray or shining light”.

Yet another parallel is Aurora believing they still treat her as a child, who does that remind you of?

Oh, dear. Why do they still treat me like a child? 

Even if love is full of thorns, I’d still embrace it. I know that in between those thorns there is a rose worth all the pain.

Could this be any more spot on? We have spoken extensively about Elains, not only willingness to get her hands dirty but the pleasure she derives from creating something beautiful from her labour. If this isn’t a metaphor for Azriel and their future situation I don’t know what is… 

This is very important, it keeps getting brought back up in text to show us Elain is going to fight through the bad to get to what she wants. Her hands might bruise and bloody in the process but she will to do it to enjoy the fruits of her labour.

Which leads me to why even further than a Sleeping Beauty retelling I think it will be Elain saving Azriel and breaking a curse/spell. Let us look to SJM’s pinterest board shall we!

These are just a few of the SB reminiscent pins she has saved, one of the more recent ones in the bottom right. Notice it is the girl saving the man, tell me you do not get immediate Elriel vibes from that, the roses, the colours.

There also seems to be a lot of cursed/chained art too, I definitely think something is going to happen to Azriel that Elain has to save him from, my best guess would be Koschei. 

Elain’s story thus far has heavily emphasised on choice, as we have seen through her interactions with Lucien and their bond overall, hence why I think it will be her making the choice to save him rather than him coming for her.

He has already saved her, it is time for her to shine. It would also grant her the opportunity to explore her own agency, and not what is expected of her.

 A ray of hope there still may be in this, the gift I give to thee. Not in death, but just in sleep, the fateful prophecy you’ll keep, and from this slumber you shall wake, when true love’s kiss, the spell shall break.

I think that it is interesting considering she is a seer, that Sleeping Beauty has so many references to visions, fate and so on, after the Azriel POV where we are shown he clearly believes it is fate that three sisters would all fall for three bothers.

Almost like it is… Fate. 

This will be the ultimate moment where Elain gets to decide her future and potentially follow her own fate. Not to mention we know the Cauldron loves Elain and gifted her with her abilities, could this be another tie-in, gifting her the ability to wake/heal Azriel? 

But see the gracious whim of fate - why, ‘tis the self-same peasant maid, who won the heart of our noble prince but yesterday. She is indeed, most wondrous fair, gold of sunshine in her hair, Lips that shame the red rose, in ageless sleep, she finds repose. The years roll by, but a hundred years to a steadfast heart, are but a day. And now, the gates of a dungeon part, and our prince is free to go his way. Off he rides, on his noble steed, a valiant figure, straight and tall! To wake his love, with love’s first kiss, and prove that true love conquers all! 

Love’s first kiss? Could this be why she didn’t allow them to kiss in the hallway… Anything is possible but the parallels are certainly interesting at this point you can’t deny! 

Also here are a few more little crumbs she could have been planting through the series, the colours we most see Elain in are pinks and blues and the most run along joke through the movie is her dress being changed from one colour to the other… Nothing major but certainly interesting.

These were by no means the only references to her wearing those colours I am just trying to be brief. 

Not to mention Roses really took a bigger role in ACOSF in regards to associating them with Elain, while she certainly had past references to them before but adding in her fathers gifts and Azriels gift both being roses. Hmmmmmmm.

(Also can I just mention how well the Lana Del Rey version of Once upon a Dream fits perfectly with Elain’s vibe???? The references to visions:

“I walked with you once upon a dream”

“Visions are seldom all they seem”

All the vision references is so suspect also! It was mention in the comments that obviously Auroras “Fake Name” is Briar Rose, which Elain + Roses, but also the girl they save from the camp is called Briar! Too many coincidences, coupled with the fact they are both describes as the most beautiful, so either of them could be the beauty under the curse. 

IT JUST FITS!

I especially love that Elain might make her ultimate choice by saving Azriel. Just that pin above on the bottom right, male sleeping with the female leaning over him, made me soo happy because it’s a perfect fit for elriel! That Sarah not so subtly pinned these things could mean nothing or everything, really. Just the chance your SB theory might come to force is so pretty and gives me hope. 😍 I can picture it, Azriel in the claws of Koschei, in an abyss, and Elain making her way through whatever worlds to him. 😭

Since the I’m getting her back and you came for me scenes are so prominent in acowar and the fandom, having Elain save Azriel would be a life coming full circle moment, also adding so much to Elain’s arc while giving Az the feeling he’s as much worthy of saving as she was to him. Ugh, I love this!

I want to address Elain’s willingness to get her hands dirty for whatever worthy outcome. Maybe it’s not much of a parallel but what I first thought of was that Az is another person who’ll get his hands really dirty for the safety of the night court. With the torturing scene in acosf so fresh in mind I couldn’t help but wonder about this, and whether it means anything that in the same book Elain getting her hands dirty is mentioned again. Especially in the Feysand POV that’s basically a wink or preparation to Elain’s story, if you ask me. What will Elain do? What epic story will she get? I know she’ll have one, she has to. Even if only to spite everyone underestimating her.

Feyre: Screaming.

Rhysand: Arrogance.

Azriel: Torture.

Cassian: Sex.

Gwyn: Daggers.

Emerie: Tea.

Nesta: Also sex.

Mor: Avoidance.

Amren: Dying.

Elain: Gardening.

...

Nasir: can I put Zafira in the box?

Kifah: No.

Nasir: can I put Zafira in the box, please?

Kifah: No.

Nasir: can I-

Kifah: No one is putting Zafira in the box.

Zafira:

Zafira: can I put Nasir in the box?

Looks like they could kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll: Nasir

Looks like a cinnamon roll, is a cinnamon roll: Zafira

Looks like they could kill you, could actually kill you: Kifah

Also Nasir—

Everyone *turns their heads*: Yes?

...

Zafira: Guys, I’m her sister. Obviously she wants my help.

Yasmine *coughs*: Who’s been watching over her these past months?! Lana, sweetie, what do you need?

Aya: Oh please, I could help her more than all of you combined!

Nasir: As her personal bodyguard-

This is Nasir from We Hunt The Flame😏

I highly recommend... he reminds me of Azriel and it’s a slowburn enemies to lovers💖

Benyamin: To make for my mistakes.

Zafira: To prove I was someone of honor.

Altair: To feel I wasnt what my mother thought of me.

Nasir: To fulfill my task.

Lana: I love you and I have faith in you beyond anyone I know and I want to help and protect you in every way

vs.

Nasir: HEY DUMBASS I DONT HATE YOU COMPLETELY EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE AN ANNOYING PIECE OF TRASH WHO WON’T SHUT UP

Zafira: My instincts are flaring now that I am surrounded by magic. I’m a daira, I never get lost. We need to head southwest. I can sense close knitted trees. We’ll have to travel at night but that won’t be a problem, I can see perfectly in the dark.

-

I was on instagram when this stunning Rowaelin fanart popped in my explore page.

And then I noticed the caption:

“He had come for her.”

And of course, it reminded me of our iconic Elriel scene.

“You came for me.”

The scenes are so similar it speaks for itself, but I wonder what we would’ve gotten if it actually was in either Azriel’s or Elain’s POV!

Elriel:

Rowaelin:

Elain: “Devouring the sight of him as if not quite believing it.”

Aelin: “Studied the tattoo snaking down the side of his face and neck. (…) Not an Illusion”

Aelin: “He came for her”

Elain: “You came for me.”

Endgame material right there 🌸

-a book written by Nasir Ghameq, co-authored by Altair al Badawi and Lana bint Iskandar. Introduction by Yasmine Ra’ad. Includes excerpts from the prequel “Zafira, think” written by Deen Ra’ad and Benyamin Haadi.