quiet dreamer

The ancient healer jerked her chin toward Lucien. “See what he can do. If anyone can sense if something is amiss, it’s a mate.” - ACOWAR

Rhys gave her a sharp look. But Elain said quietly, “The queen might come.” Silence. Elain was staring at the unlit fireplace, eyes lost to that vague murkiness. “What queen,” Nesta said, more tightly than she usually spoke to our sister. “The one who was cursed.” “Cursed by the Cauldron,” I clarified to Nesta, pushing off the archway. “When it threw its tantrum after you … left.” “No.” Elain studied me, then her. “Not that one. The other.” Nesta took a steadying breath, opening her mouth to either whisk Elain upstairs or move on. But Azriel asked softly, taking a single step over the threshold and into the sitting room, “What other?” Elain’s brows twitched toward each other. “The queen—with the feathers of flame.” The shadowsinger angled his head. Lucien murmured to me, eye still fixed on Elain, “Should we—does she need …?” “She doesn’t need anything,” Azriel answered without so much as looking at Lucien. Elain was staring at the spymaster now—unblinkingly. “We’re the ones who need …” Azriel trailed off. “A seer,” he said, more to himself than us. “The Cauldron made you a seer.” - ACOWAR

Love would trump even a mating bond - ACOWAR

Through love all is possible - HOEAB

What if the Cauldron was wrong? - ACOSF AZRIEL BONUS

"I truly believe love conquers all — love is an incredibly powerful force, both in this world and in fantasy ones" -SJM

“That’s something I find to be very interesting,” she replies. “What if the forces that be put you with the wrong person? Or what if you just decide, eh, I’m not interested. … There’s a lot to explore within the concept of mates and your agency about it. “I’m not going to say if I am exploring it in future books or not,” she continues, “but it definitely offers a wealth of things to explore with this concept of freewill and what is true love. Is it something that’s destined? Or is it something that you make? Is it both?” -SJM

it’s almost eerie how beat for beat their takes are.

“cassian and emerie are mates, that’s why he was drawn to her when nesta rejected him!”

“what if emerie got nesta’s gift from the hydra? it was always meant to go to her!”

“cassian and nesta are a terrible match, but emerie is perfect for him because she’s a warrior!”

“i hate nesta, cassian should be with emerie, she would actually understand him!”

“why else would emerie show up in cassian’s chapter if it wasn’t important? clearly, cassian and emerie are endgame!”

“cassian deserves better, he better end up with emerie! i will never read a book about nesta and cassian!”

Sorry, you'll never have the Truth-teller scene, the rescue scene, Azriel always reaching out to Elain, Azriel questioning his religion, Azriel staying away because the thought of Elain not being his mate hurts, Azriel spending the longest night of the year with Elain, Azriel being a poet because of Elain, Azriel always finding a way to be with Elain, Azriel risking his life for Elain, Azriel being in his joyous state because of Elain, Azriel desiring and adoring Elain....

Y'all sit down, we're actually good especially with our reading comprehension.

The necklace represents Elain.

It really pains me when people say that “a thing of secret lovely beauty” is Gwyn’s line or represents Gwyn, and that we are trying to make everything about Elain when we say the line is her line.

But…it is. It is her line. No one else’s.

Here is what Azriel thinks when he takes the necklace out:

“The golden necklace seemed ordinary -- its chain unremarkable, the amulet tiny enough that it could be dismissed as an everyday charm. It was a small, flat rose fashioned of stained glass, designed so that when held to the light, the true depth of the colors would become visible. A thing of secret, lovely beauty. 

‘It's beautiful,’ she whispered, lifting it from the box. The golden faelight shone through the little glass facets, setting the charm glowing with hues of red and pink and white. Azriel let his shadows whisk away the box as she said softly, ‘Put it on me?’”

This is a metaphor for Elain. Not only is it a rose, which has been used to represent Elain throughout the books, but outwardly the necklace appears boring and typical, when it actually is a thing of secret complexity and beauty when you hold it to the light and look closely enough.

In the scene, Elain talks about what she heard through her visions and Azriel immediately picks up on it, meanwhile, Feyre keeps questioning her but Elain just keeps rambling about the visions ignoring hee entirely. Then Azriel asks, “What did you see?” and that’s the impressive part: Elain never actually said she saw anything; she never specified it was visual, but when he asks her, she answers him directly even turning back to look at him:

That moment; him realizing that what she was describing was something she’d seen--basically makes Azriel the one who realizes she’s a seer, even before he says it outright chapters later!

Like how was he able to piece that together when everyone including her "mate" thought she’d gone mad? I know it could be part of his abilities as a shadowsinger and spymaster, but the way he connects the dots really gives off mate-behavior. Which brings me back to what Madja said about the bond--how it’s a bridge between souls:

Lucien tests the mating bond, finds it's a "real thread," and can't find out what's wrong with Elain.

Azriel finds out what's "wrong" with Elain ("she doesn't need anything [...] the Cauldron made you a Seer")

Azriel and Elain are the ones who get the "bridge" language/imagery through Feyre's witnessing of the Truth Teller scene.

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.

1. Elain wants to go back to Graysen

2. The rejected mating bond is actually about LoA, Beron, and Helion (mind you we don’t even know if there’s a mating bond there)

Which tells me that GAs immediately caught on that E/ucien isn’t happening. They need another male character to interfere so it won’t be Azriel.

Something tells me that if their kiss gets interrupted again, Elain won't let it end there.

This time, she'd be the one closing the distance, taking Azriel by surprise, and finally stealing the kiss they've both been waiting far too long for.

Enough interruptions, enough longing, Elain's getting her kiss.

A huge thank you to @aurithemoon for this absolutely breathtaking comic. I'm completely obsessed with the way you draw Elain and Azriel. Thank you for sharing your incredible talent with us.

⊱❊⊰⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣⤞ Art by @aurithemoon

⁣⁣⁣⤞ Commissioned by me

⁣⁣⁣⤞ Please do not repost without permission

⁣⁣⁣⤞ Instagram

Throw back to SJM talking about female spies in during the war and how they were unassuming and amazing. Sound like anyone we know?