this is kind of a rant, and it’s also a little long 😭 i wrote it all in one go and now i can barely even read it properly myself, so i might have repeated myself once or twice.

I’ve been thinking about this since the announcement, and I’m genuinely curious to know how other Elain fans are feeling about it.

First of all, I want to make one thing clear: I am 100% convinced that Elain will have a POV and an important role in this story. I genuinely cannot imagine a Koschei-centered storyline where she simply exists in the background.
Elain was the character who first introduced us to Koschei through her visions. She saw Vassa, the lake and the black box, which I still think is going to become incredibly important. Considering the folklore surrounding Koschei the Deathless and the idea of his mortality being hidden outside his body, I would be very surprised if that box never came back into play somehow. Obviously that part is still a theory, but the box itself is an unresolved thread that came directly through Elain’s powers.
And if Koschei is the main villain, Vassa obviously has to matter too. And if Vassa matters, Lucien is inevitably connected to that storyline as well. There are simply too many existing threads involving Elain, Lucien and Vassa for me to believe they’re suddenly going to become irrelevant.

So my concern isn’t really “what if Elain isn’t in these books?” I’m not particularly worried about that.

What makes me sad is the possibility that we waited all these years for Elain’s story only for her to never receive the same opportunity her sisters had: being the undisputed main focus of her own book.
And I want to explain this because I don’t want this post to come across as me disliking the other characters.

I’m Elriel, which I think is pretty obvious from some of my previous posts idk, but I’ve always felt slightly disconnected from the more extreme sides of fandom because there genuinely aren’t many ACOTAR characters I dislike.
I love Nesta. I like Lucien. I like the Inner Circle. I genuinely enjoyed Gwyn, Emerie and the Valkyries and their friendship in ACOSF. Even Tamlin, probably the character I care about the least, is more a character I’m indifferent towards than someone I actively hate.

So my disappointment isn’t “ugh, I don’t want to read about the Valkyries.” If they’re important to this story, that’s completely fine with me.

I just really, really wanted Elain’s book.

And I want to clarify something else, because I was genuinely sure Elain would eventually get a book where she was the main female character, but not because of entitlement, ego, or because I think the character I love deserves more than everybody else. Elain is a character I’ve grown incredibly attached to over the years, even though I know she hasn’t had nearly as much page time as some of the others. But this expectation didn’t come out of nowhere. It wasn’t something Elain fans collectively invented because we wanted it badly enough.

Sarah has been talking about Elain’s story for years. This goes back almost a decade. And even after A Court of Silver Flames, she talked about having planted seeds for Elain’s book.
So from a purely narrative standpoint, I always thought the progression was obvious: Nesta had her turn, and eventually Elain’s story would move forward too.
That’s why I’m still completely confident that Elain’s story cannot remain frozen forever. Something has to happen with her. Her powers, her visions, her bond, her relationships, her future, all of it has been sitting there unresolved for years.
What hurts is the possibility that when her moment finally comes, she’s the one sister who has to share it.

I wanted a story where she was allowed to be the center in the same way Feyre and Nesta were. Where other characters could obviously have important roles, but ultimately this was her journey, her development, her powers, her relationships and her choices.

And if the blurbs are any indication, it seems pretty clear that these books are going to involve multiple members of the Inner Circle and probably other characters as well. So even if Elain is central, it already feels very unlikely that she’ll have the same kind of singular spotlight Nesta had in ACOSF.
That’s the part I struggle with.

Why does Elain specifically have to be the sister who shares her moment with everyone else, especially when so many of these characters have already had entire books and major arcs dedicated to them?

Especially because I’ve spent years seeing people say that Elain is too boring to carry a book, that nothing happens with her, that she isn’t interesting enough to be a protagonist. I genuinely wanted to see a book centered on a very different kind of female protagonist prove exactly why none of that is true.
And honestly, seeing the Elain hate get even worse after this announcement has been exhausting. I already hated it before, but now it feels like people are treating The Valkyrie Cycle as permission to go right back to saying, “See? Sarah doesn’t care about Elain,” “She’s useless,” “She can go back to planting flowers,” and all the same things we’ve been hearing for years.

And I genuinely don’t understand it.

Where did female solidarity go? Why are we apparently only capable of celebrating one type of female character?

I like the Valkyries. I liked their story. I like Nesta. This isn’t about needing to tear one group of women down to defend another. But I am so tired of this idea that the only female characters worthy of being protagonists are the ones who fight, wield swords, train, swear, and fit the same general “badass warrior woman” mold.
We already have so many of those protagonists.

And I like many of them! But Elain felt like a breath of fresh air precisely because she isn’t that.
She’s gentle. She likes flowers and baking. She avoids conflict (that’s a flaw ik). She’s observant. She’s feminine in a very traditional way. She has spent most of the series underestimated, talked over, protected, dismissed, and interpreted by everybody except herself.

That is exactly why I wanted her as a protagonist.
I wanted to see what an ACOTAR story looks like when the heroine doesn’t become interesting because she learns how to fight. I wanted to see power expressed differently. I wanted to finally understand the character who has been deliberately kept quiet and mysterious for so long.
And I know SJM loves multiple POVs. I’ve read TOG, so multiple POVs themselves don’t bother me at all. But ACOTAR has always felt structurally different to me.

TOG is an epic fantasy that also contains major romances. ACOTAR has always been much more firmly rooted in romantasy, with the romance occupying a huge part of the narrative and the POV structure being much more intimate.

That’s also why I really hope this doesn’t suddenly become TOG-level multi-POV storytelling where we’re jumping between 37 different characters every five pages 😭 I genuinely hope they keep it to maybe four or five POVs at most, because otherwise that would be a massive structural shift for ACOTAR.
And honestly, I’m not sure I’d love that.

Not because multi-POV is inherently bad, but because ACOTAR has never been TOG. It has always had a much more intimate narrative structure, usually one or two central perspectives, with the romance carrying a huge part of the emotional core. If we suddenly move into this sprawling epic-fantasy ensemble structure right when it was finally supposed to be Elain’s turn, I’m going to have very mixed feelings about it.

So if the Valkyrie Cycle really represents ACOTAR moving toward a huge ensemble story with many POVs and a much stronger emphasis on the overarching fantasy plot, I’m interested in seeing what Sarah does with it. Honestly, ACOTAR probably does need to deal with all the enormous unresolved plot threads eventually.
But I’d be lying if I said part of me wasn’t disappointed that this shift may have happened right when it was finally supposed to be Elain’s turn.

Maybe we’re completely panicking over nothing, because the blurbs are so deliberately vague that they don’t name a SINGLE character, not even the Valkyries despite literally calling this The Valkyrie Cycle. We still don’t actually know the POV structure.

And that contradiction is one of the reasons I’m trying not to spiral too much yet. If this were simply “Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie’s next story,” you would think the blurbs would actually mention the Valkyries at some point. Instead, they’re talking broadly about Koschei and the Inner Circle while refusing to name literally anybody.

So I still think there is a lot we don’t know.
But that’s where I am right now: I’m confident Elain will be important. I’m much less confident that she’ll ever get to be the sole main female protagonist of a book the way her sisters did, and that genuinely makes me sad.

I’d especially love to hear how other Elain fans feel about that distinction, because for me “Elain will have a POV” and “Elain will finally get her book” have never meant quite the same thing.

the other day i saw someone get genuinely MAD because someone described elain as a complex character.
their response was basically: “in what world is elain a complex character? be serious.”
and it made me realize something.

i think people have become way too attached to a very specific stereotype of what a “complex character” looks like.
for some reason, complexity has become synonymous with someone who’s constantly angry, rude, morally gray, emotionally explosive, or hated by half the fandom.

and don’t get me wrong, i absolutely think nesta is a complex character. i think rhys is too. in fact, when people dislike them, i usually understand why even if i personally love them. that’s kind of what happens when you write genuinely complex characters, they make questionable decisions, they hurt people, they act out of fear or trauma, and not everyone is going to like them.
but… are those the only kinds of complex characters?

because complexity doesn’t just mean being loud.
a complex character is someone with flaws, contradictions, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and internal conflicts. someone whose actions aren’t always right, even if you understand where they’re coming from.

that’s exactly why i think elain is complex too.
and i’m saying this as someone who loves her.
one of elain’s biggest flaws is avoidance.

she avoids conflict. she avoids uncomfortable conversations. when something hurts her or makes her uncomfortable, her instinct isn’t to confront it, it’s to look away and pretend it isn’t there.

her relationship with lucien is actually a perfect example. yes, narratively, the mating bond obviously can’t be fully addressed until her own book. but from a character perspective, the way she handles it is completely consistent with one of her biggest flaws. she doesn’t know how to deal with it, so she avoids him. she barely looks at him. she barely speaks to him. she chooses distance over confrontation.

that’s not a strength. it’s a flaw.

the same goes for how she processes her own emotions.
instead of talking about how she’s feeling, she tries to convince everyone (including herself) that she’s fine. she throws herself into gardening, baking, helping others… anything except openly dealing with what’s happening inside her.

and honestly, that’s just as unhealthy as nesta’s coping mechanisms. they’re simply different.
nesta pushed everyone away by lashing out. she became self-destructive because she believed she deserved to suffer and didn’t want anyone getting close enough to help her.

elain pushes people away in almost the opposite way. she withdraws into herself. she makes herself seem small, quiet, and “fine” so no one worries about her. instead of exploding, she disappears.
both are forms of avoidance.

that’s why i don’t really understand why people act as though complexity only comes in one form.
not every complex character has to be angry.
not every complex character has to be sarcastic or morally gray.
sometimes complexity looks like silence.
sometimes it looks like someone who’s spent years pretending everything is okay because facing reality feels even more terrifying.
and to me, that’s exactly what makes elain interesting.

SPOILER CC3

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately (i had a lot of debates about this).
I completely agree that Nesta’s story isn’t over. >!HOFAS clearly opened a huge new plotline for her with the eight-pointed star, Gwydion, and everything connected to the crossover.!<I fully expect her to remain a very important character going forward.
But… does that automatically mean she has to remain the main character?
To me, those are two different things.

SJM has repeatedly said these next books are one continuous story (not a trilogy), and I think that actually makes me less convinced that we’ll simply get “Nesta Part 2” before moving on.

We’re talking about one overarching story spread across three books, and with Koschei, Beron, Eris, the human queens, and the Continent all being built up since ACOWAR. ACOFAS and ACOSF. There are obviously going to be multiple plotlines happening simultaneously. I actually expect multiple POVs because I don’t know how you tell a 2,000+ page story otherwise.
But here’s the thing…

Elain has been narratively on hold for four books.
Almost every important aspect of her character has been deliberately left unresolved.

If ACOTAR 6, 7, and 8 all focused primarily on Nesta and the Valkyries again, are we seriously saying we’d have to wait until ACOTAR 9 for Elain’s actual story?
That just doesn’t make narrative sense to me.
At that point SJM would basically have to keep Elain in limbo for another 2,000 pages. Realistically… what would she even do? Continue gardening while every major plotline advances around her?

Mrs “shall I tend to my little garden forever?”??

Mrs “You can't have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater”??

Mrs “find me when you wish to begin”??

Elain is ready for her story to be told

Ironically, I actually think Nesta getting her own quest could be a way of giving both sisters room to grow. Throughout the series, Nesta has often been one of the people holding Elain back, not maliciously of course, but out of love and overprotectiveness. If Elain is finally going to step into a larger role, it makes sense to me that Nesta might temporarily be occupied elsewhere while still remaining an important POV.
So yes, I absolutely expect Nesta to stay relevant.

But I still think Elain will be the emotional and narrative center of this next phase, while the larger story revolves around Koschei and the overarching conflict.
Because if she isn’t… then when exactly is her story supposed to happen? ACOTAR 9? I just can’t see SJM postponing her character for that much longer.

one last thing i want to add is that SJM has literally said she’s been researching Elain’s book since ACOWAR. we’re talking about almost ten years of her laying the groundwork for Elain’s story. she even said that during ACOWAR, both Nesta’s and Elain’s stories were starting to take shape.
and if you look at ACOFAS, which was meant to bridge the original trilogy and the spin-offs, it basically plants the seeds for everything that later happens in ACOSF. so naturally, i expect it also planted many of the seeds for Elain’s book.

Elain having her own book has been planned for years. SJM decided as far back as ACOMAF that she wanted to continue the series with Nesta and Elain. so the idea that she’s spent years researching, planning, and setting up Elain’s story… only to not actually tell it now, just doesn’t make sense to me.
she also explicitly said in an interview that, for now, Nesta’s story was one book, and that while writing ACOSF she included many elements that were actually setting up Elain’s book. those are things she literally said.

so why do people expect Elain not to be one of the main focuses of these next 2,000+ pages? this is a huge story. i completely understand people saying, “but Nesta… the sword, the tattoo…” and i agree! Nesta’s story is obviously continuing. i don’t think anyone is arguing otherwise.
but… let Elain shine. she’s been waiting in the wings for four books. if there was ever a moment for her to finally step into the spotlight, this is it. this feels like her moment.

I’m truly heartbroken to hear about @muni_luny’s passing. 💔

I didn’t know her, and I didn’t personally follow her as an artist, but after visiting her profile I was genuinely surprised by how many of her artworks I recognized. I’d seen so many of them over the years without ever realizing they were hers. That alone says so much about how far her talent reached, not just within the ACOTAR fandom, but across so many others as well.

What I can’t stop thinking about, though, isn’t even just the art.
It’s the fact that she was part of this fandom.
She was a fan who loved this series. She waited all these years alongside the rest of us, wondering where the story would go next. She probably spent hours reading theories, discussing characters, getting attached to them, celebrating the book announcement, imagining what the next installment would bring, and looking forward to finally seeing how this story ends.

I know it’s “just a book series” in the grand scheme of things. But stories matter. They become part of our lives. They give us something to look forward to, they connect us with people all over the world, and sometimes they become a place of comfort during difficult moments.

I genuinely can’t stop crying when I think about the fact that she’ll never get to experience the ending of a story she clearly loved. She’ll never open that final book, read those final chapters, or find out where these characters’ journeys lead. For some reason, that’s the thought that keeps breaking my heart the most.

And beyond the books, it’s devastating to think about everything else that was taken from her, her future, the art she still had left to create, the life she was building with her husband.

My thoughts are also with everyone affected by this terrible tragedy in Venezuela. It’s heartbreaking to see so many lives lost.

My deepest condolences go out to her family, her friends, and everyone who loved her.

Thank you, Muni, for sharing your incredible talent with this community.

May she and her husband rest in peace. 🤍🕊️

I’m actually spiritually PRO Helion/Lady of Autumn… but can I really use the Pro tag if my entire post is basically “I don’t think they’ll end up together”? I’m having an identity crisis.

Okay anyway, first of all… can SJM PLEASE give this woman a name???😭 We’re potentially about to enter book six and she’s still “Lady of Autumn.” At this point it’s becoming funny. I know she’s technically a pretty minor character, but come on… she deserves better.

Their story is already tragic, and we barely know anything about it. We don’t know whether they’re mates (personally I actually doubt it, they had a child together, and I would’ve expected the bond to have snapped into place by then… but who knows), and we don’t know why they never ended up together beyond the obvious political reality. I know someone will say, “Well, that reason is enough.”… NOT FOR ME.

I feel like there’s still a huge part of that story we haven’t been told (duh?!)

I’ve seen the theory that Beron and the Lady of Autumn might actually be mates, and honestly… I can understand why people think that. One of the recurring ideas in the series is that children are rare, yet she had seven. If mating bonds make having children more likely, it would fit. But at the same time, SJM has had so many opportunities to simply tell us they were mates, and she never has.
If she wanted to foreshadow a rejected mating bond between them (which a lot of people believe is coming), I honestly think she would’ve established the bond by now. The fact that she hasn’t makes me doubt that theory quite a bit. That omission feels intentional.

For the record, I’m convinced we’re going to see a rejected mating bond somewhere in this series. It’s been hinted at too many times for it to never become relevant. Narratively, I think it would feel incredibly unsatisfying to keep bringing up rejected bonds, unhappy mates, “nature making mistakes,” and then never actually explore that concept.

As an Elriel, yes, I obviously think it’ll be Elain and Lucien’s, but that’s not really the point of this post. I’m only mentioning it because I don’t personally think it’ll be Beron and the Lady of Autumn.

If it ended up being Beron and the Lady of Autumn instead, I’d be completely okay with it. I’d just also be a little disappointed because I don’t feel like that possibility has actually been built up enough on page. And honestly, if it turns out to be two completely new characters we’ve barely met… I’d probably be even more disappointed.
(I’ve also seen people suggest Nessian😟, but I really don’t think so, not only because of their story, but because SJM herself has described them as something along the lines of “true mates” or “perfect mates.” I don’t remember the exact wording.)

What fascinates me most is that Helion and the Lady of Autumn are basically the definition of forbidden love. And not just forbidden—legendary, the kind of love story I’d happily read 8000+ pages about. We’re not talking about ordinary faeries. We’re talking about a High Lord and the wife of another High Lord. That’s HUGE.

That said… I don’t actually know if I want them to end up together.
Here’s where I struggle.

To me, this feels like a love story where she has carried almost all of the tragedy.

We barely know the Lady of Autumn. She’s appeared, what, three times? And yet she already breaks my heart.
This woman has spent five hundred years trapped in an abusive marriage with Beron. We know she isn’t free. We know she’s been abused. We know she’s had to survive under him for centuries. The only real light in her life seems to be her children.
That’s heartbreaking.

I’m not saying Helion didn’t suffer emotionally. I’m sure he did (and honestly… I hope he did…). But the suffering we’ve actually seen has overwhelmingly been hers.
Maybe this is just a personal preference, but I have a very specific weakness when it comes to romance. 😭
I love the yearning. The pining. The man who’s been hopelessly, devastatingly in love with the same woman for centuries. The kind of love that completely ruins him.

That’s where Helion loses me a little.

I’m not judging him at all for being sexually active. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But as a romantasy reader… it doesn’t quite sell me on the idea of this all-consuming, tragic romance when, over the years, we’ve seen him sleep with multiple people, sleep with Mor, openly flirt with Azriel, flirt with basically everyone… 😭

Again, I know those things can absolutely coexist in real life. People can have casual relationships while carrying unresolved feelings for someone else.
But romantically, in a romantasy, where emotions are often heightened, it just doesn’t scratch that itch for me.

Maybe that’s completely a me problem.

Because when I think of tragic romance, I think of two people whose lives have been irreparably shaped by each other.
With the Lady of Autumn, I absolutely believe that’s true.
With Helion… I’m not there yet.

I know SJM probably hadn’t even decided Lucien was Helion’s son until ACOWAR (unless I’m forgetting something, didn’t Beron originally get described as looking similar to Lucien in ACOTAR?).
So maybe Helion’s side of the story simply hadn’t been fully planned yet.

But even in ACOWAR, after that reveal, I still don’t remember seeing the level of devastation from Helion that I personally would’ve wanted if this is meant to be the great forbidden love story.

Maybe SJM will change my mind. She absolutely could.

But right now… I honestly don’t think this story is going to end happily anyway.

I could absolutely see Beron and Helion facing each other in a Blood Duel. I don’t know who would survive, but I have a hard time imagining this storyline ending without someone paying an enormous price.

In fact, my biggest fear isn’t Helion dying.
It’s the Lady of Autumn.

For some reason, I have this horrible feeling she’s the one who won’t make it to the end.
And honestly?
That would completely destroy me.
Whatever SJM has planned… please just give this woman a name first.

Hiiii! I’m posting here because this sub feels really welcoming and safe to me ❤️❤️ I didn’t ask in the Elriel sub because I’m actually interested in other ships too, and everyone here always seems so sweet. 🌸

I’m currently deep in my Elain era, so I’m mainly looking for LONG Elriel fics, preferably Modern AU/College AU or just non-fantasy settings in general. I need something lighter right now.

I’ve already read Theory of Blooming (100k+ words, still updating, and I’m suffering through waiting for every chapter 🥲) and Teams & Techno, which I absolutely adored. Long, well-written, workplace AU perfection, and basically complete at this point.

Does anyone know fics with a similar vibe? Slow burn, good characterization, mutual pining, yearning, tension, maybe some angst, and a little spice is very welcome too. 🫣

I wouldn’t mind Feysand and Nessian recs either if you have them! But I’m feral for Elriel right now. 💙🩷

A Reddit post today also introduced me to the concept of Erislain (?????) and kind of opened a whole new world for me because I had genuinely never considered them before, so I’d happily take recs for them too.
And if there are any iconic long Azris fics too…👀

I only recently learned how to properly use AO3 after years of unsuccessfully searching Wattpad, so I’ve actually read very few fanfics overall.
Basically: please feed me. I’m new to AO3, emotionally attached to fictional faeries, and desperately in need of a 200k-word obsession. 🫩🤙🌸

I genuinely spent a couple of minutes deciding whether to flair this as a question for the Audience or as pro-Elriel. 😭 I honestly don’t have the energy for aggressive debates, so if that’s your intention, please, just ignore me. I’m hoping for a civil discussion here. I talked about all three ships, not just Elriel, so it didn’t feel fair to label it only as pro-Elriel.

This post is mostly for people who aren’t completely blinded by the need to win a ship war 🤺

Okay, Anyway… this is a question from someone who admittedly leans Elriel, but is mostly a fan of the series and wants to enjoy whatever story SJM ends up telling.

Something I’ve personally noticed is that over the last few years, Elriel seems to have gone from being considered a legitimate possibility to being treated by some fans as though it’s not even worth discussing anymore. And I genuinely don’t understand how we got here.

I completely understand preferring Elucien. I understand that Lucien and Elain are mates, and SJM is very much a fated mates author. I also understand preferring Gwynriel and finding significance in the ending of Azriel’s BC, even though it was retailer-exclusive and inaccessible to many readers, especially outside the English-speaking fandom.

That’s all fair.

What I don’t understand is why discussions sometimes operate under the assumption that the next book can only realistically be Elucien or Gwynriel, while Elriel is treated as if believing in it is borderline delusional.

Personally, I think it’s pretty obvious that the third Archeron sister will have a major focus in the next book, regardless of which ship ends up canon, whether it’s multi-POV or not. Elain has been sidelined for too long, and she’s tied to too many important storylines: Koschei, the human queens, her powers as a Seer, her relationship with Lucien AND Azriel, her sisters, and even the broader theme of choice versus fate.
Not exploring her now would honestly feel like a missed opportunity. I also feel like Elain is often judged by a standard that other characters simply aren’t held to. She’s called boring, blank, or lacking personality, yet we’ve spent five books intentionally being kept out of her head. We know very little about Azriel’s inner world too, and Lucien hasn’t even had a POV, but somehow it’s always Elain who has to prove she’s worthy of being a protagonist. To me, she feels less like an empty character and more like an unopened box. SJM has spent years letting other people define Elain, and I think that’s precisely why I’m excited to finally see who she is on her own terms.

Anyway

Elriel doesn’t have to be your preference. You can genuinely believe they are impossible.
But canonically, Elain and Azriel do have feelings for each other. People can absolutely interpret those feelings as desire rather than love; I personally don’t, but either way there is something there. It’s textually present.

I’ve even seen people say things like, “If you didn’t read the BC, that’s your problem.” But bonus chapters are called bonus chapters for a reason. They are extra content.
Interesting? Absolutely.
Worth discussing? Of course.
But not everyone had access to them, not every language received them, and I don’t think readers who never knew they existed should suddenly be considered less capable of understanding the story.

Every interpretation and theory is valid. But I also don’t think people should get upset when someone asks questions such as, “If this chapter was so narratively essential, why wasn’t it included in the actual book? Why keep potentially major information away from Nesta and Cassian’s POVs? Why make access to supposedly crucial information dependent on retailer exclusives?”

The BC became famous within the fandom, but it remains a fact that it wasn’t translated into every language. You can’t really blame readers for not having read it. I personally only read Azriel’s BC this March, after becoming active in the fandom following the ACOTAR 6/7 discussions, despite having read the books over three years ago. Does that somehow make me less of a fan?

Do I have the right to think that it would feel strange for a couple built over several books, especially throughout ACOFAS and ACOSF, to effectively die in an eleven-page retailer-exclusive chapter? (Though I should say that I personally never felt like the BC killed Elriel, but that’s beside the point. I’m speaking more generally about interpretation)

Personally, yes.

I think a casual reader would find that incredibly abrupt. If Elriel isn’t meant to be, I think that deserves to be explored properly on page.
Many things can happen in 2000+ pages. SJM absolutely could have changed her mind. Maybe Elriel gets explored and then she gradually shows us why they aren’t meant to be. That’s how you treat readers respectfully, in my opinion. And if that’s the story she wants to tell, then that’s what we deserve: a story.

Because ultimately, we don’t know.
Maybe Elriel won’t happen. Maybe it will. Some people already speak as though one outcome is undeniably guaranteed, and that’s the part I struggle with.

I know perfectly well there are rude people in every ship. I’ve seen people behave poorly even while sharing my own preferences, so I don’t want to play victim or frame this as “Elriels good, everyone else bad.” That’s not my intention. I’m mostly speaking from my own experience and from watching discussions become increasingly dismissive toward even the possibility of Elriel.

Regarding Gwynriel, I completely understand why the BC interaction was interpreted romantically. The dynamic was sweet, the curious shadows were interesting, both characters singing is cute, and theories about Shadowsingers and Lightsingers are genuinely fun to read. The first time I read it (very late, and not even in my own language), I definitely thought, “Okay, Why is this written this way? ,” especially with the necklace scene.

But moving from that to saying it’s 100% guaranteed feels premature to me. Five years is a long wait. Theories have kept this fandom alive, and I think people should be allowed to speculate without having their reading comprehension insulted.

As for Elucien, the mating bond is undeniably significant. Personally, I think SJM would need to do more narrative work to convince me because Elain currently seems uncomfortable with the bond, and SJM herself described Elain as having been “essentially married to a stranger.” (Also, with all those hints about a possible bond rejection, I think SJM would need to do quite a bit of narrative work to convince me) But I trust SJM. She’s had years to think about this story, and if Elucien happens, I’ll trust that she genuinely believed it was the best story she could tell.

Ultimately, what I don’t understand is this: if all three ships supposedly still have a chance, why does Elriel often feel like the only one that has lost its right to even be explored?

Especially considering that, at least right now, Elain and Azriel are the only pairing where we’ve explicitly seen mutual feelings and years of slow narrative build-up on the page. You don’t have to interpret those scenes the same way I do. You can give significance to “His name is Lucien.” You can give significance to Gwyn’s breath making Azriel’s shadows dance. That’s canon. That’s fair.

But then I also think it’s fair for others to give significance to “The Cauldron made you a Seer” immediately after we had been told that only a mate could truly know something was wrong. Or to Truth-Teller. Or to “You came for me.” Or to “Something charged passed between them.” (The very last interaction we get between Azriel and Elain in the actual book is this. As a casual reader, this is how I was left seeing them).

SJM herself has admitted that she originally started ACOTAR more for fun and vibes than with a rigid master plan (“i didn’t plan Rhysand”).
Some people even theorize that Moriel was originally intended to happen and later changed. I honestly share some of those suspicions. But going from that to assuming she changes her mind in every single book also feels excessive. At that point, none of us should really feel secure in any ship because SJM would simply become entirely unpredictable.

I don’t think that’s impossible. But if she does change course, I think the story itself should do the convincing (for everyone, not just for me)
I’ve never met anyone in real life who’s read ACOTAR. Seeing how hostile parts of the fandom can become over this is honestly a little sad.

At the end of the day, we’re all just people waiting to read a good epic love story. 🩷

It’s been a while since I read the books, so I don’t remember every detail about the different courts and their aesthetics.

We all know Cassian’s famous comment about black draining the life from Elain, and how even if she claims to be part of the Night Court bla bla bla... I don’t really want to debate that line here because, while I personally like the idea of Elain remaining connected to the Night Court (she has her family there and friends now), I admit that comment did make me pause (A part of me would like her story to take place outside the Night Court).

But then, not too long after, Nesta sees Elain wearing an amethyst dress and describes her as looking healthy, beautiful, glowing, etc. Since this comes almost immediately after Cassian’s comment, it really stands out.

I’ve seen people argue that amethyst is associated with the Day Court (??nah) and that this foreshadows Elain ending up there. Others connect her to Spring (i thought spring color was like…green?idk) Personally, amethyst makes me think more of Dusk… but I’ve barely read any Dusk theories.

What do we know about the colors associated with each court??

At this point, isn’t amethyst more of a Dawn Court color? 😭 Or are we reading too much into colors in general? If we go by powers, Rhys’s magic has violet undertones too (it doesn’t really make sense ik) , but the Night Court itself is primarily associated with black. Feyre doesn’t spend most of the books dressed in black anyway

Colors may ultimately mean nothing at all. I’m mostly asking because I’ve realized I’ve missed years of Dusk Court theories by not really being active in the fandom, and I’d love recommendations for good analyses or people’s thoughts. 😭🩷

I feel like a baby here, educate me

thank you ily💙🩷

okay this is a question for people who have read the Chaol/Nesryn bonus chapter.

Yesterday I made a post on the ACOTAR ship debate subreddit asking about Azriel’s bonus chapter and, more specifically, why SJM chose to dedicate so much of Azriel’s only POV chapter to his attraction to Elain if the intention was always to move him toward a different romantic endgame.

One of the most common responses I received was that SJM has actually done something very similar before with Chaol and Nesryn.

A few people pointed to the Chaol bonus chapter as evidence that SJM is willing to write explicit attraction, romantic or sexual tension, and then later redirect a character toward a different relationship.

The thing is… I had never read that bonus chapter. In fact, I didn’t even know it existed until people mentioned it in the comments. 😂

One Elriel commenter also pointed out that the comparison might not be perfectly identical, but I still considered it one of the strongest counterarguments to my original point.

So now I’m curious.

Is there a detailed analysis of the Chaol/Nesryn bonus chapter somewhere? Or could someone explain why so many readers compare it to Azriel’s bonus chapter?

I’m more interested in the writing and narrative side of it, because this comparison came up repeatedly and I’d like to understand it better from people who are actually familiar with the chapter (with an Elriel perspective)

I’m openly Elriel, so I’m not pretending to be completely neutral here.

I know this discussion has probably happened before, but I’m relatively new to Reddit and genuinely curious about how other readers interpret this.

One thing I’ve never fully understood is the argument that Azriel’s bonus chapter completely closed the door on Elriel.

First, there’s the accessibility issue.

I’m not a native English speaker. In my country, the Azriel bonus chapter wasn’t included in any edition of the books, and as far as I know, there’s no official translation either. I had to actively go looking for it online years after I had already read the series.

Because of that, I’ve always felt that while the chapter is obviously canon, it probably isn’t important enough to completely resolve a major romantic storyline. It would be strange to me if SJM “permanently closed a relationship arc” in content that many readers around the world don’t even have access to.

That said, my main reason for questioning this is actually related to SJM’s writing style.

Maybe this is a weird interpretation, but I’ve always felt like SJM doesn’t spend much time writing detailed sexual attraction, explicit sexual thoughts, and intimate development for relationships that ultimately aren’t important to the story or not endgame.

I remember reading ACOTAR after Crescent City and being told it was incredibly spicy. Then I got through the first book and thought, “That’s it?”

The scenes between Feyre and Tamlin weren’t non-existent, but they felt relatively brief and vague compared to what people had led me to expect. Then I read ACOMAF and the difference felt pretty noticeable.

That’s kind of why I’ve developed the impression that when SJM dedicates significant page time not only to romance, but also to attraction, desire, intimacy, and sexual thoughts, she’s usually signaling that the relationship matters.

And honestly, that’s where my question comes from.

I’m not really asking whether Elriel is endgame or not for you.

What I’m more interested in is the narrative side of it.

Let’s pretend you’re the author for a moment.

How would you personally handle a storyline where you’ve already given a character very explicit sexual thoughts about one person from his own POV, and then later intend for him to end up with someone else?

Because that’s the part I struggle with from a writing perspective.

I’m not talking about attraction in general. Characters can be attracted to multiple people. There’s a difference between “he finds her attractive,” “he has a crush on her,” or even “he fantasized about her once,” and giving readers direct access to multiple explicit sexual thoughts from that character’s own POV, we literally read about Azriel getting hard and wanting to taste Elain’s sex. How does a romantasy author actually walk back from something like that?

Genuinely.

SJM writes romance as a central part of her stories. Relationships aren’t side plots (in Acotar), they’re major narrative arcs.

So if you’re deliberately putting readers inside a character’s head and showing them explicit desire for a specific person, how do you later convince those same readers that someone else was always the real destination?

Maybe there’s a way to do it, but I can’t immediately think of an example from SJM’s own books where she’s done that successfully.

And before anyone brings up the argument that Azriel only feels sexual desire for Elain and nothing deeper: you’re absolutely free to make that argument, but I’ll be honest and say upfront that I don’t personally agree with that interpretation.

You’re welcome to use it as part of your answer, but I don’t really see the text that way.

People often point out that Azriel was in love with Mor for 500 years, and that’s true. I’m sure he had sexual thoughts about Mor too.

But I never read those thoughts.

The narrative never put me inside his head and showed them to me directly.

With Elain, it did.

That’s why I find it difficult to interpret the bonus chapter as something that definitively killed Elriel. From a storytelling perspective, it seems like a significant amount of narrative investment for a relationship that supposedly has nowhere left to go.

Looking back at SJM’s books, most relationships that didn’t end up being endgame seem to have been handled much more vaguely when it came to physical intimacy. Many of them were fade-to-black, relatively brief, or simply didn’t receive the same amount of sexual focus. The only major exception I can think of is when she’s writing a character’s first sexual experience, which feels like a different category entirely.

In fact, I’ve sometimes wondered whether SJM actually prefers not to write first-time scenes, at all.

It’s also one of the reasons theories about Nesta eventually leaving Cassian have never made much sense to me. SJM didn’t just write them a romance, she wrote an entire 700+ page book centered on both their emotional and physical relationship.

Obviously this isn’t a rule. It’s just a pattern I’ve personally noticed.

So my question is:

If you were the author, how would you make that transition feel satisfying?

How would you go from “the reader has been inside this character’s head while he’s explicitly desiring Person A” to “actually, Person B is the real romantic destination”?

What narrative steps would make that feel earned rather than abrupt?

Because that’s the part I’m genuinely curious about.