#pro elriel

I’m mourning the fact that elriel will happen’ between a bunch of some other people’s pov. I’m mourning the fact that I won’t have their book in my hands with an aesthetic cover and some beautiful title but this crap we received today.

it doesn’t matter that she will be the focal point or the main character, still it won’t be her book and everyone will get a piece of her story. still it isn’t being promoted as her story cause it’s not apparently, it’s everyone’s story and the conclusion of acotar.

Because we’ve got:

Nesta ⚡️ Rhys (I remember reading she’s in the doghouse after CC so duh)

Azriel ⚡️ Rhys (again duh)

Rhys ⚡️ Feyre? (For not telling her about the pregnancy? Or maybe postpartum? Putting her sister through hell again? ALL OF THEM?)

Nesta ⚡️ Elain (it’s been a long time cominggg)

Rhys ⚡️ Cass (because his priority is his mate now. Hopefully)

Cass ⚡️ Mor ⚡️ Az (for whatever tf they need to sort out for the 500 years)

Azriel ⚡️ Elain (COUGH “this was a mistake”)

Please, look into The Ring Cycle, especially the second part, Die Walküre (The Valkyrie).

The fact that SJM chose the exact term “The Valkyrie Cycle” and then called the four parts “Movements” makes the Wagner connection really interesting. The Ring Cycle is structured as a larger work divided into separate parts, so it feels very possible that she’s using the opera as a reference for how this new ACOTAR story is structured, and maybe even for some of its themes.

Die Walküre is, among other things, a story about forbidden love, fate vs. free will, characters being bound by forces and rules they didn’t choose, family/political conflict, and people defying what they’re supposed to do because of love. Brünnhilde is literally caught between the order she is supposed to obey and the choice she believes is right, and her decision sets off a much bigger conflict. Tell me why that sounds very familiar?

If The Valkyrie Cycle is intentionally referencing The Ring Cycle, then Die Walküre could potentially be a thematic blueprint for the kind of story she wants to tell: forbidden love + fate + political/familial opposition + characters having to choose between what is imposed on them and what they actually want. And of course, the conflicts tied to it.

Considering that Elain’s entire situation revolves around a mating bond she never chose, Azriel being forbidden from pursuing her, and the possibility of choosing love despite what fate supposedly decided for them…