Welcome All

First of all, if you’re just having fun with your ships, you do you, man. I’m not here to rain on your parade.

However, there are so many people out there that are CONVINCED of Elucien/Gwynriel that I can’t take it anymore and I have to throw in my two cents, so here we go. I’m gonna break it down by ship.

Elucien

There’s no way, bro. And we can set aside the fact that if that ship were to sail it would be the same sort of love story as Nessian (reluctant mates).

The most obvious thing to discuss here is that Elain is clearly not interested. And neither, to some extent, is Lucien.

Let’s look back to ACOWAR when Lucien talks to Elain in the library. He thinks about Jesminda. “[She] had loved him without question, without hesitation. She had chosen him. Elain had been…thrown at him.”

Like Azriel, Lucien wants to be chosen. He’s had it before and he sees the value in it. Unfortunately, he’s a fae male and he has a hard time ignoring his instincts where his mate is concerned, so he keeps trying. Even though he can hardly stand to be in the same room as her. Whereas Vassa…

Elain, on the other hand, has absolutely no interest in a mating bond. After Graysen breaks her heart in ACOWAR, Feyre says, “Some sliver of hope had been shattered today. That Graysen would still love her, marry her–and that love would trump even a mating bond.”

Obviously, that quote is in direct reference to her ex-fiance, but we see Elain reconfirm that desire in ACOFAS when she tells Feyre explicitly that she doesn’t want a mate. I don’t think it’s personal to Lucien, I think she rejects the idea of being told who she should be with. Of being robbed of choice.

We learn from Nesta in ACOSF that their mother always said Elain would marry for “love and beauty”. I think for Elain, a mating bond is not the same as love. Also, small aside, but who is constantly regarded as the most beautiful of the bat boys?

We haven’t seen them have a conversation about their mating bond yet because why would we? That will happen in Elain’s book (which is most likely next).

Gwynriel

I feel like this one is more dangerous to get into so I’ll tread lightly.

Firstly, the majority of evidence for this ship comes from a bonus chapter that the majority of the fandom doesn’t even know exists. Anyone who listens to the audiobooks doesn’t know about it unless they poke around ACOTAR stuff online.

It doesn’t make sense for an author to essentially change the entire trajectory of a story in a bonus chapter that most people don’t know about.

Also, I think a big problem with the BC is that people read it after they finish the book, so it can feel like the most recent thing to happen in the story, but it’s not. It happens about 2/3 of the way through ACOSF and a lot happens after that.

But before we get into that, let’s talk about the shadows. People lose their damn minds that Az’s shadows dance for Gwyn and vanish for Elain. The truth of it is that we don’t know what dancing shadows actually mean, though. It’s the first time we’ve seen it happen. However, we have seen his shadows vanish for someone other than Elain.

In ACOMAF, when Feyre meets the IC for the first time, they vanish for Mor. “Mor patted Azriel on the shoulder as she dodged his outstretched wing…The lurking shadows vanished entirely as Azriel’s head dipped a bit.”

So we know that the shadows vanish in the presence of someone Azriel has romantic feelings for, but we don’t know what makes them dance.

Then, at the end of the BC (after he said he didn’t even consider Gwyn to be a friend) he feels a spark of joy in his chest. Good. My shadow man deserves happiness.

But we know that it doesn’t last because at the very next training right after Solstice, Neta comments that Az is “More aloof than usual” which clearly shows us that he is far more hung up on what happened with Elain than whatever may or may not be going on with Gwyn.

For her part, Gwyn becomes more comfortable around Azriel after Solstice. We love to see it because the poor girl has been so traumatized and, like Az, she deserves to be happy.

However, at no point does Nesta or Cassian suspect there to be any romantic connection between them. Not like how Nesta did with Az and Elain. (“His secret to tell. Never hers.”).

And then at the climax of the book, Gwyn is thrown into the Blood Rite. At no point is Az even half as frantic as Cassian (which a mate would be) and he is way more preoccupied with whatever’s going on with Eris.

At the end, when Nesta is getting ready for her mating ceremony, Gwyn tells her that she’s not ready to leave the House of Wind again. Poor thing has been re-traumatized because of what happens in the BR and can’t stand to leave the House. And y'all think she’s ready for any kind of romantic relationship??

Nah, let Gwyn heal without the influence of a male.

Elriel

So I’m got gonna talk about the rescue, him figuring out she’s a seer, giving her Truth Teller, or any of the usual stuff because that’s been said and said and I have nothing to add to it.

Instead, I want to talk about what I believe their trope will be and share my evidence with the class. Cool? Cool.

Okay, so, I think we all know that if Elriel is endgame then their trope will be forbidden lovers.

Personally, I am of the opinion that the purpose of Az’s bonus chapter was to confirm that for us, not suddenly change the entire trajectory of the story.

But forbidden lovers makes so much sense for Elriel because of what we’ve seen in the books, not just the BC.

Looking at ACOMAF again, Mor tells Feyre, “‘Azriel’s got no shortage of lovers, though, don’t worry. He’s just better at keeping them secret than we are.’”

Then, in ACOSF, when Feyre’s talking about how Elain figured out she was pregnant first, she says to Azriel, “'I think she’s got you beat for secret-keeping’”.

So it’s already in-canon that Azriel can keep his lovers secret very well and that Elain is just good at secrets in general.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE

A moment I never see anyone talk about is something that Cassian observes at a family dinner. “Elain had already departed with Feyre, claiming she had to be up with the dawn to tend to an elderly faerie’s garden. Cassian didn’t know why he suspected this wasn’t true. There had been some tightness in Elain’s face when she said it. Normally when she made such excuses, Lucien was around, but the male remained in the human lands with Jurian and Vassa.”

Elain already has secrets the IC aren’t privy to. So what’s one more?

I like this theory a lot and it makes sense. We know that the mating bond doesn’t always pair people who are well suited for each other (ex. Tamlin and Rhys’s parents). It stands to reason that fate would pair Az and Mor together because they are so powerful.

And we know that the feeling is much stronger in males than it is females.

Rhys also says at one point that it can be difficult to tell that the mating bond is there before it snaps into place. It’s very possible that it snapped into place for Az but not Mor and that’s why they can’t sense it. It would explain why he’s never been able to move on from her in 500 years, why he’s so protective of her, and why he’s so blind to the fact that she likes the ladies even though he’s literally always going with her to a gay bar and he’s, you know, a spy.

It would also explain why Mor, even though she clearly doesn’t want him because he’s Rhys’s friend and, more importantly, prefers females. To me it doesn’t make sense that she would string him along for so long just because she doesn’t want to come out to the IC.

We know she values her little found family more than anything I think what she’s really afraid of is rejecting the bond and breaking apart the family.

I have a sub-theory that Az found out about Mor liking females when she told Feyre. They had the conversation at the edge of a forest. What is there a lot of in a forest? Shadows. I think the shadows heard and told him. At the time, he clearly already had feelings towards Elain (this was right after the rescue) and we see his feelings towards her grow in ACOFAS.

Then in ACOSF we see it more and it’s specifically mentioned that Az no longer seems to be interested in Mor. I think Az has finally moved on and has allowed himself to embrace his feelings towards Elain, even if he doesn’t act on them (in the bonus chapter it was Elain who made the first move. I don’t think Az ever would have).

It’s not an air-tight theory, but I think it makes a lot of sense given what we know about the characters and the mating bond. Let me know your thoughts!

bohoindie:

have a relationship thats mature enough to sit down and be like “ look this is our problem and this is how we’re gonna fix it..” SIMPLE

(via cartel)

rehfan:

queenelsaofnotredame:

emilyisobsessed:

my dog took a bullet for me

THE SWIVEL OF THAT BUTT THO

Not all heroes wear capes

(via spongebobssquarepants)

sparklezoi:

sixpenceee:

Sun rays shine on the warm breath of a polar bear

Fire-breathing polar bear!

(via gaypizzabacon)

(Source: pinterest.com, via jamesbuchananbarnes-rogers)

beyonslayed:

magica-tenore-regina:

eve:

i hate this 

IWIWUHBAUEDAPDHQOIEFIhefuweb

STOP

(via spongebobssquarepants)

Before I fall in love again

1. I want us to be friends. Which means, I want to be able to eat my favourite cheese crust pizza with you, while having cheese all over my face and even in my hair, without feeling embarrassed or concerned about it.

I want to be comfortable with you, I want to be okay about being messy, irritating, embarrassing, disgusting, petty while with you. Because I will be petty when I see my ex best friend post a happy picture and I will be messy during my finals and I will be embarrassing when I meet your parents for I suck at meeting parents. I want to be okay with being the way I am and the only way to be okay is to know that you’re okay with me being things other than beautiful, graceful and composed at all times.

2. I want to be able to have long and passionate conversations with you not just about existential things but also about what went wrong in the ending of that book and how kids are affected by media and how tomato basil combination always works. I want to have conversations where we may not always have the same views but our fundamental values always fall in place. I want to talk to you about the beauty of the stars but I also want to talk to you about the disgusting mentality behind certain societal norms.

3. I want to see how consistent your actions are with your words. I don’t want to fall for love letters or poems, for sweet Instagram captions or long birthday texts, I want to fall in love with you showing up on time and keeping your promises.

4. I want to take it slow. I want our story to work out in years, not months. I want to respect time and space this time.

5. I want to make sure I am not seeking love from you for the lack of love I have for myself. I want to make sure you aren’t a void I am filling in, you are not an alternative to the things I can’t give myself. I want to make sure you are not doing the same.

6. I want to work out with my insecurities and fears from the past. I don’t want to project them on you, I don’t want to subject you to the doubts, suspicion and anger I carry from the people I have known in the past.

7. Before I fall in love again, I want to make a mattress with you. Of understanding and respect and trust. So when we fall, it doesn’t hurt.

(via i-am-audy)

chekhov:

My mom went on my account and unfollowed you sorry

(via cartel)

(via spongebobssquarepants)