merakimoonglade

[merakimoonglade]

Dropping the latest Sketch-a-Wish, voted on by my lovely Patreon members for May! Featuring Rhys, Feyre and their meeting with the Bone Carver from A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas! The moment Rhys broke the tension with his knee-hurting-when-it-rains secret, and the Bone Carver busting out laughing was my favorite moment. It cleverly showed the professional respect they have for each other, even though they're definitely not bosom friends. It also emphasizes how much the Bone Carver adheres to his own rules when he accepts it. It makes him such a charming little monster.

[merakimoonglade]

Everything I’ve Ever Let Go Of Has Claw Marks On It

[merakimoonglade]

𝙎𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙎𝙪𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 💛

Elain always has been, and always will be, Azriel's sun at dawn. And Azriel will always be the shadows that only exist because of the sunlight, the yin to her yang, her fiercest protector and greatest supporter.

Thank you @oladka-art for creating this GORGEOUS piece for us. I can’t stop staring at it 😍

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Art by @oladka-art

Commissioned by me, @lunaatthezoo & (IG) aoitavacorte

Elain & Azriel from ACOTAR series by SJM

@elriel-month

Insta post

X/Twitter post

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NO REPOSTS

Likes & shares appreciated 💛

[merakimoonglade]

Your Idol, K-Pop Demon Hunters, 2025 Netflix

Screenshots I took for my own reference but man. This is how you do a Demon Boy Band that Seduces to the Dark Side. The feverish cultish demonic energy is insane. And these boys have no right to look this good.

[merakimoonglade]

the girls 💕

[merakimoonglade]

genuine question for all the ..ciels. What is the purpose of Vassa?

Vassa's been in the series since ACOMAF.

Lucien's whole paternity, background and powers have been changed? retconned? or at least augmented and the author sent him away from his mate to seek out another woman.

He found Vassa, and now, he is living with her. And seems pretty happy.

If Vassa was only there to help out in the war, then the Archeron dad could've brought her. She could've helped and he story could've been done.

Why is she still in the series? WITH Lucien? And why did SJM give them their 'couple name'.

People will talk to death about Gwyn, and how her story isn't yet told and how she is so important, yet the same people totally pretend like Vassa doesn't exist and like she hasn't been out there for 4 books.

[merakimoonglade]

The first words

I looked up Elain's first reactions to both Lucien and Azriel and their first conversations, and I thought that this was very telling and interesting.

With Lucien, it starts off like this:

this is an interesting start because the first thing that Elain asks is 'Who are you?'

Lucien introduces himself, his title, his name. But both know that 'what' he is to her is a mate.

And yet, Elain not only doesn't acknowledge their matehood and their bond, but instead, she asks 'who are you?'

She could've said 'I know you are my mate' or 'I remember you when you said that I was your mate'. But instead, she not only doesn't bring it up, but also the question is very telling: she doesn't KNOW him. He is nothing to her. Not only that, she doesn't ask him 'tell me about yourself' or even 'what are you?' No. She doesn't recognize him on any level. She doesn't recognize him as her mate, and what's more, there is no interest in her to find out more.

As the conversation progresses, she states that she knows about him from Feyre's tales. And then she, as if emphasizing that she isn't a total goner, says, 'You were in Hybern' and finally, the most damning of all 'You betrayed us'.

So it's not like she isn't aware of who Lucien is. She is. But to her, Lucien is nothing but a traitor. Someone who betrayed the all (you betrayed US) and that's how she views him. Furthermore, she asks no questions of him. Not 'why did you do it?' or even 'did you know this was going to happen?' No. She knows who he is, but she doesn't know WHO he is and she doesn't want to know anything further about him.

Interestingly too, Lucien has nothing to offer her other than his name. He rattles out his background, his name, where he falls on the totem pole. Yet, just like she doesn't know him, and doesn't want to, he comes up empty handed when it comes to 'selling' himself to her. Both of them are empty, both of them are asking 'who are you?' because nothing connects them except for the bond.

Now let's take a look at Elain and Azriel.

Firstly, there is something that's established immediately--a COMMONALITY. They are both 'civilized'. Not only that, they are the only ones, who are civilized. The two of them, who are supposed to be utterly different, with nothing in common whatsoever, suddenly share something that sets them apart as a due, from the rest of the group.

Now, Elain, nervous and scared, is the one who initiates the conversation with him. Prior to that, she was mostly responding to Nesta's vitriol, but also explaining herself to the rest of the group.

But in this case, she addressed Azriel directly.

And the question isn't 'who are you?'

It's like she already knows, and she jumps straight into something that is uniquely his. She is asking about HIM. She isn't asking about his standing in Rhys's circle, she isn't interested in what he does, what his family is...Normal things. Her first question is, 'can you truly fly?' She finds it fascinating, but what's more interesting is that the next question is about fear. 'Isn't it scary, to fly so high?' It's a question of CONCERN. She assumes that she'd never fly. She knows that Cassian flies. She might know that Rhys does too. But her question is extremely intimate: she is asking this giant, battle-hardened warrior if he is afraid of something. (And yes, to everyone's shock, he acknowledges this one small weakness. That at times, it is frightening. Maybe it hasn't been scary for centuries, but at one point, it was). But there is an underlying worry in Elain about him, which is very surprising. Why should she care if it's frightening? Why would she assume that it would be? And how did she know that from the 3 of them, it was Azriel who felt that fear initially--because he wasn't allowed to fly.

Compare his response to Lucien's response.

'Can you truly fly?'

"Yes. I can."

That would've been enough. That would've been expected. Maybe she wasn't even looking for anything more.

But instead, Azriel went much deeper. He told her of where he came from, of Illyrians and how all of them were born hearing the song of the wind.

Not only is it poetic, which is not something Azriel could've been accused of before, but it's also intimate. An intimate answer to an intimate question.

There is an immediate connection that's established between Elain and Azriel, which continues throughout their first conversations, culminating in Elain relaxing around him.

Curiously, a few months later, they are brought up again, by Feyre, who says that 'Elain would cling to Azriel, for some peace and quiet'.

From the very first words, Elain established two things:

With Lucien, it's mistrust and disinterest.

With Azriel, it's trust and fascination.

And she's been clinging to him for some peace and quiet ever since, while he's been protecting her with his own life.

[merakimoonglade]

I can’t wait for the fic that I’m going to write after this fic I’m not writing because I still have to finish another fic (which I can’t seem to focus on).

[merakimoonglade]

“blood’s thick but nothing like a payroll” is an insane line

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“No. I … I was sleeping, but I heard …” She shook her head. Blinked at our formal attire, the dark" .... ". “I didn’t hear you.”

Azriel stepped forward. “But you heard something else.”

Elain seemed about to nod, but only backed away. “I think I was dreaming,” she murmured. “I think I’m always dreaming these days.”

I love the connection between Elain's power and Azriel's power. I love the fact that he instantly understood what she was going through. He knew that what she had heard wasn't from them and wasn't a dream because he, too, had once heard the shadows whispering to him. And at that time, he had thought he heard someone or was dreaming, but it was his shadowsinger gift, just like what she was hearing and seeing was her seer gift.

[merakimoonglade]

with my love as your garden

won’t you fall for me?

🎨 by kaywestart

[merakimoonglade]

Some shower time fun 💦

Just a little something to get ya through the week 😉

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You can find the full version on my X/Twitter and Bluesky.

X won’t let me directly link due to it being ✨spicy✨, so it’ll direct you to my profile where you can easily find it ☺️

X/Twitter

Bluesky post

Instagram post

My Linktree

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Art by (x/twitter) nsf_ko 🖤

Commissioned by me

Elain & Azriel from ACOTAR series by SJM

@elriel-month

NO REPOSTS

Likes & shares appreciated 🖤

[merakimoonglade]

“He should not want her. But he did. He always did.”

🎨 by its.clausart

[merakimoonglade]

Solstice Elriel 🥔🌸🦇

I felt, more than saw, my sister go still as he approached. Her throat bobbed.

*******

But I strode to my seat—nestled between Amren and Mor—in time to see Elain say to Azriel, “Hello.”

Az said nothing.

No, he just moved toward her.

Mor tensed beside me.

But Azriel only took Elain’s heavy dish of potatoes from her hands, his voice soft as night as he said, “Sit. I’ll take care of it.”

Elain’s hands remained in midair, as if the ghost of the dish remained between them. With a blink, she lowered them, and noticed her apron. “I—I’ll be right back,” she murmured, and hurried down the hall before I could explain that no one cared if she showed up to dinner covered in flour and that she should just sit.

*******

Azriel set the potatoes in the center of the table, Cassian diving right in. Or he tried to.

One moment, his hand was spearing toward the serving spoon. The next, it was stopped, Azriel’s scarred fingers wrapped around his wrist. “Wait,” Azriel said, nothing but command in his voice.

Mor gaped wide enough that I was certain the half-chewed green beans in her mouth were going to tumble onto her plate. Amren just smirked over the rim of her wineglass.

Cassian gawked at him. “Wait for what? Gravy?”

Azriel didn’t let go. “Wait until everyone is seated before eating.”

*******

Elain swept in, apron gone and hair rebraided. “Please don’t wait on my account,” she said, taking the seat at the head of the table.

*******

🎨 Art by @aurithemoon

✨ Commissioned by me

💙 Please do not repost. Reblogs are welcome! 

[merakimoonglade]

In the spirit of encouraging people to comment on fanfics while also making it easier to do so, I feel obliged to share a browser extension for ao3 that has quite literally revolutionized the comment game for me.

I present to you: the floating ao3 comment box!

From what I've seen, a big problem for many people is that once you reach the comments at the bottom of a fic, your memory of it miraculously disappears. Anything you wanted to say is stuck ten paragraphs ago, and you barely remember what you thought while reading. This fixes that!

I'll give a little explanation on the features and how it works, but if you want to skip all that, here's the link.

Edit: Yes, this also works on mobile!

The extension is visible as a small blue box in the upper left corner.

(Side note: The green colouring is not from the extension, that's me.)

If you click on it, you open a comment box window at the bottom of your screen but not at the bottom of the fic. I opened my own fic for demonstrative purposes.

The website also gives explanations on how exactly it functions, but I'll summarize regardless.

insert selection -> if you highlight a sentence in the fic it will be added in italics to the comment box

add to comment box -> once you're done writing your comment, you click this button and the entire thing will automatically copied to the ao3 comment box

delete -> self explanatory

on mulitchapter fics, you will be given the option to either add the comment to just the current chapter or the entire fic

The best part? You can simply close the window the same way you opened it and your progress will automatically be saved. So you can open it, comment on a paragraph, and then close it and keep reading without having the box in your face.

Comments are what keep writers going, and as both a writer and a reader, I think it's such an easy way of showing support and enthusiasm.

[merakimoonglade]

There are certain fallacies that are so ingrained into the fabric of this fandom that they are being treated as some kind of 'fact' or truth, and it drives me crazy!

Azriel wants a warrior! (because his first love Mor is a warrior)

Azriel met Mor when she was 17 and he was 19. Mor wasn't a warrior of any kind. She just came into her powers and was about to be married off to Eris.

Azriel fell for her as she was. Basically at first glance. He hardly knew anything about her. Her eventually becoming a warrior had absolutely no impact on his attraction to her. He never mentioned her even being a warrior (unlike Cassian, who admires that quality of hers very openly). In fact, Azriel, despite Mor being a warrior is openly protective of her and doesn't want her to be put in situations where she could be hurt. Never has he acknowledged any need for or attraction to anyone who fights with a sword.

Azriel only wants a mate because his brothers are mated

This has been mulled over to death, but just as a reminder: the ONLY couple that Azriel is aware of being mates is Feyre and Rhys.

During Solstice and his fight with Rhys, no one was aware that Nessian were mates, because it was literally happening as they were speaking. So this assumption that 'Azriel only wants a mate because his brothers are mated' is automatically false. He might have suspected that Nessian are mates, but it wasn't official.

What's more, as it stands now, Azriel is aware of 3 mated couples: Feysand. Rhys's parents. Elucien.

Only one of those couples is a happy mated couple. The other two were/are miserable.

Again, Azriel is angry that Elain was given to Lucien, whom she doesn't want and who is undeserving of her.

Azriel goes after unavailable women (because he doesn't want an actual relationship)

We only know of Azriel going after 2 women. Mor and Elain.

Mor, in fact, seemed very much available after he brought her back from Autumn. She was rejected by Eris, she was technically free. She was no longer pure, she was no longer promised to anyone, she was no longer engaged.

Mor was available. When it comes to her sexual preferences, Azriel had no idea, especially back then. (I will not address how sloppily and nonsensically SJM wrote the whole thing, because technically speaking, Mor literally JUST hit puberty. Like a month ago. She was not only a virgin, but also essentially an equivalent of a 12 year old girl. So for her to already know that she was into women, and into men, but with a deep preference for women, is highly doubtful. She had sex once, with Cassian. For her to suddenly realize that she was basically a lesbian and walk away from Az, knowing that she will definitely prefer a lesbian relationship, is...unlikely. But that's a different conversation.)

Elain is mated to an unwanted mate. Does that make her 'unavailable'? I don't know. it's been over a year since Elain was Made and in a year and a half, she displayed no interest in Lucien. This is exactly what Azriel acknowledges 'and she has no interest in him anyway'. Azriel waited for 1.5 years to take a step to pursue Elain. Only AFTER making sure that she isn't into Lucien.

Does that qualify him as 'going after unavailable women'?

Azirel doesn't want a mate. He doesn't want a warrior. He doesn't want an unavailable woman.

He wants Elain.

End of.

[merakimoonglade]

This is Money Snake. She only appears every 312 years. 

If you reblog her picture within the next twenty-five seconds you will have good luck and fortune for the rest of your life.