🎨 by me. @ Morwenaert on IG.
Feel free to share. Do not repost without credit
Note: I've finally completed my Elriel piece!
As a "poor" artist, I wasn't expecting so much appreciation to this artwork's earlier sketch. It really warmed my heart to see that people liked it and shared it. Thank you so much!!
Something deep in Nesta’s chest cracked. Cracked open completely, and what lay within bloomed, full and bright and pure.”
THIS is what I want for Azriel. Someone to absolutely break that dark mass of self hatred inside of him.
Not by him hiding, deflecting, brooding and trying to feel nothing but feel EVERYTHING.
To have that love that is so beautiful and unbending and show it off to the world. Like Rhys and Feyre do. Which Azriel himself stated is something he envies.
It’s the greatest pleasure to have worked with the wonderful and lovely @oli_diart and @throughstarlitfields to bring yall this beautiful Elriel piece for @elriel-month with these 2 at Rosehall! @throughstarlitfields and I couldn’t be more happy with this beautiful, stunning piece! We wanted to share a tender moment of Elain and Azriel at Rosehall for the first time, and fully and finally beginning their relationship and embracing and accepting each other’s homes and their pasts.
༉‧₊˚🕯️🖤❀༉‧₊˚.
✮♱✮ commissioned for @elriel-month
✮♱✮ characters are Elain Archeron & Azriel.
༉‧₊˚🕯️🖤❀༉‧₊˚.
✮♱✮ likes, saves, and shares are always appreciated!
The theory is this (and I’ve discussed it with a mutual who isn’t on Tumblr, so I don’t think I am the only one who has this as a possibility) - what if the Cauldron was once a man?
We know that there is a Mother, and then there is the Cauldron. And, based on the tapestry/mural that Feyre saw in Tamlin’s manor, the Mother (a woman) basically ‘poured’ life out of the Cauldron. Both are always interconnected. And, as we witness, without the Cauldron, the world would end.
Frequently, when there is a mention of mate bonds, both the Mother and the Cauldron are discussed.
For example, when Rhys and Feyre discuss mate bonds, Rhys states that they could be coming from the Mother or from the ‘Cauldron’s swirling eddies’. In Azriel’s POV, we have ‘only for the Mother to witness’ and ‘what if the Cauldron was wrong?” During the birth scene, we have Nesta hearing a soft female voice (the Mother, we assume), all the while she is bargaining with the Cauldron.
We know that the Cauldron is sentient--at least to a certain degree. It ‘raged’ when Nesta stole something from it. And it ‘purred’ in Elain’s presence. It’s been said that ‘the Cauldron loves Elain’. It ‘took’ whatever Nesta gave back and it ‘responded’ to her pleas.
So, the theory is--what if at one point, the Cauldron was a male. The Mother’s male counterpart. Wherever the Mother came from, and we can assume that she is an Asteri-like figure, but benevolent, rather than malevolent, she had a male mate/husband/lover (whatever you want to call it). But, during the move to Prythian and the new world, for whatever reason, only SHE could enter. Not the male. And what if the male was made into this life/death giving object, that she brought with her? Not only is there no life in Prythian without the Cauldron (it’s life sustaining), but all life came FROM it (as in seeded). What if the Mother, unable to part with her mate, managed to either transform him into this object of immense power, which contains his essence, for we can assume that he would’ve been at least as powerful as the Mother. OR, he sacrificed himself to be with her, and willingly was re-made into the pot?
And what if the concept of matehood comes from the two of them? It mimics their love and their union. But only a few chosen ones could really experience it in all its force and glory. That’s why true mates are so rare? What if those bonds--a Feysand-level bond--come from both the Mother and the Cauldron? Whereas weaker bonds are indeed designed to create stronger species? powerful leaders? Fae with very powerful magic?
If the Cauldron was a male, it would explain ‘human’-like feelings that it gives off. What if Elain, with her beauty and kindness and general disposition, reminded the Cauldron of the Mother? Of his/its lover? The Cauldron could’ve destroyed Elain--she was the first one to be put into it. It could’ve killed her, made her into something horrific, or even punished her like it did the Queen. Instead, not only did she survive, emerged beautiful, it also GAVE her something. Nesta stole something, but the Cauldron gave Elain a gift--a gift of Sight (and probably more). What if the Cauldron have her TWO MATES as well? One--a true soul mate, in Azriel--and another, the mate of Power, with Lucien? Could she, therefore, become a High Lady? Because of whatever gifts the Cauldron bestowed upon her?
If we assume that Elain’s Power is Life, versus Nesta’s Death, it would be in line with the Cauldron’s love for her, for it is a vessel through which all life flows and began. Can someone, with the power of Life, which was granted by an object that is not just the Void, but also Life, revive a dead Court then? And is Azriel, who is associated with Death, is called Death, then not the perfect counterpart to Life? The alpha and omega, the beginning and the end? Azriel, with his strange powers, which resemble the powers of others, who come from a small island which used to be an 8th Court and who is likely that Court’s heir, paired off by Mother and the Cauldron, with a Made female, whose power is Life?
Here’s Sarah ONCE AGAIN saying her books are about women. If you truly think Az is going to be the star of the next book and have his partner take a backseat, I really don’t know what to tell you at this point.
It’s Elain. Az is her romance. He’ll play his part, but it’s a book where SJM is going to be writing a book about the female finding her strength. Not the guy. He can come along for the ride, but it’s her book.
“Never”, Rhys said from where he finished buckling on his own weapons against the side of the wagon. “I have never once seen Azriel let another person touch that knife.” Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt of the blade. I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection … that knife.
I commissioned this from @mftfernandez on Instagram! I am SO in love with the art work and she really brought these characters to life!