u/VelarisMuse

Am I the only one that's bummed out enough about this new information we got that I'm not even looking forward to getting the next book(s)?

Was I too naive in thinking that, given the fact that Feyre got her story, and then Nesta got hers, what we were supposed to get next was Elain's book?

Am I being too drastic in thinking that's never gonna happen now, even if the blurbs or the subtitles hint to "Elriel's forbidden love story"? I'm not interested in reading that if it's alongside a bunch of other stuff and Elain is outshined by 14 other possible POVs since apparently that's what "the story that came out of me was too big" means.

For months, since day one when I became a fan of these books and especially when I saw the vitriol this cursed fandom has for Elain when she'd done nothing to deserve it, I have been a ride or die fan of her. I have shaken my head thinking people were gonna eventually be proven wrong when Elain gets her times to shine.

I have been ride or die.

For Elain. For her story, her powers, her personality, her little moments that shined even through the lense of other people's POVs. People have waited patiently for years for her turn, and that to me now seems more far away than ever.

Nothing we got since yesterday confirms to me that Elain will be our next FMC and I can't believe this would mean that those who hate her for "not being interesting enough to carry her own books" were correct. That Sarah agrees. That she needs to add other POVs or conflicts or resolve other stuff at the same time. All while Nesta got a 700+ page standalone doing her own thing and having her own space to grow. Elain doesn't get that grace.

Am I convinced Elriel isn't happening? No.

But I'll be honest. I don't care. And I'm gonna quote Jo March here so you can see where I'm coming from.

>Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for.

I was never here for the men. I will never care more about what Azriel does than about hearing from Elain and being in her head. The boys are just a good addition to a story of empowerment about the FMCs that I like. But I do not care about romance if it comes at a cost of my favorite character not having her well earned spotlight. I didn't need to be in Rhysand's head to be sold Feysand's love story. I don't need Azriel's thoughts or Lucien's thoughts or whoever it is she's intending to add as a POV.

Yes, these are romance books. This is a fantasy story. I'm aware. But if Sarah managed to build the entire world of Prythian in 3 books with only Feyre's first person POV, then she could've done the same thing without book 6, after 5 years, suddenly turning into "The Inner Circle" book.

That wasn't what I was expecting, especially since once upon a time she said she was doing research for Elain's book. But none of this screams Elain. Where's the seer imagery, the flowers, the vines, the shadows? Where is everything that makes Elain...ELAIN?

Maybe I'm being too negative. But I needed to get this off my chest, and I just can't do it in a different space where I know everyone else is celebrating we finally got titles, and covers, and art, and blurbs, while I'm still out here mourning my Elain book.

I'm not the writer of these books. And I knew some people were gonna be disappointed inevitably, I just didn't think it'd be those of us who were rooting for Elain to finally be out of the shadows (pun intended) of her sisters. That just doesn't seem plausible to me anymore.

Please if you disagree, be kind to me, I'm very heartbroken right now even though in my head I keep telling myself "it's not that deep". But I feel like I lost something yesterday, and that's the hope of the soft FMC with a different sort of strength that I thought I'd been promised.

Pretty self explanatory question, but let me elaborate 🤭

Do they know that you like Sarah J. Maas, know who she is, her books, her stories, your favorite characters, fandom drama, that we're all waiting for news on her next book, anything at all?

Or are you like me who wouldn't know where to start explaining what Fae are, and magical powers and MATES, oh lord mates lmaooo.

I love them all but I fear they'd look at me like I'm crazy 😂

So you could say I lead a double life? lol But I do know some fans who talk at length and even got some of their loved ones hooked on these books and her other stories. I guess I'm just surrounded by people who have very different tastes than I do.

Since people seem to be so curious lately about why people who think Elain should reject her mating bond, who aren't exclusively Elriels btw as we can see in u/devotionatic latest post; some people do agree they don't want it happening because they don't want Elain and Az together but the acknowledge it's happening anyway, let me elaborate on some of my thoughts and feel free to join in and disagree or agree with me, whatever suits you.

A warning that for some of you who've been in this fandom for way longer than me will be bored to death with my quotes because this has been discussed 'til death, but bear with me. Some are still confused, it seems.

Firstly: And misinformation I need to adress immediately, it's not about "Elain should be with Azriel". I'm personally more than capable of discussing why it's a more logical and interesting way for her story to go without bringing up Azriel at all. Or any man for that matter. That's an argument "anti-Elriels" propose we have but it's, plain and simple, a lie.

Secondly: Elain rejecting her bond is a more empowering outcome than staying within the mating bond because it's excercising her free will and ability to choose even if fate, the mother, the cauldron, nature, or whatever it is we don't know for sure yet, have predisposed for her. Ultimately choosing the person that was predisposed for her by higher powers isn't much of a choice, so this predetermination is what cancels the posibility to choose if you're just opting for the one option you were given.

Third: A mating bond can be ill-suited and that's something the books have introduced, not readers. That's just a fact.

>“A mating bond can be rejected,” Rhys said mildly, eyes flickering in the mirror as he drank in every inch of bare skin I had on display. “There is choice. And sometimes, yes—the bond picks poorly. Sometimes, the bond is nothing more than some … preordained guesswork at who will provide the strongest offspring. At its basest level, it’s perhaps only that. Some natural function, not an indication of true, paired souls.”
ACOWAR, Ch. 24

Furthermore, almost 10 years later in March 2026 she reinforces this idea when being asked about mating bonds WITHIN HER WORLD, which is an important distiction. Sarah isn't the spokesperson for mating bonds or how other authors write them. She makes clear that in her stories, not all mates are truly bonded souls.

>"It's kind of your destined true love in a way, but it's complicated because there's a biological component to it where you can be mated to someone that is not actually your true love. There's true true mates and then there's kind of like nature made a mistake. Like Rhys's parents did not love each other. It was not a great relationship, but they were mates. And there's a biological thing where they're like, we want to be together, but then it's like we're fucking miserable with each other, especially his mom. So, it's tricky. But then when you find your perfect mate, like Rhys and Feyre, Cassian and Nesta". 
CHD (01:17:35)

So we've established that not all mates are meant to be, correct? I don't know how it can be any more clear than this. So when you're baffled that Elriels believe that Elain would reject her bond because Lucien's isn't her "true love" or "true true mate", just refer to both of these.

Fourth: She could not have been talking about any other couple that isn't Elucien. In both examples I've brought it was Elain and her mating bond that was being questioned. So to think that the mating bond rejection plot would go to anyone other than Elain is being in denial, not only because of the facts, but for the sole reason that Sarah doing something so out of the box for "a fated mates author" (which I don't agree with that category they've put her in, but whatever) and giving it to some C plot background character that, say it with me, DOESN'T HAVE A CONFIRMED MATING BOND is nonsensical.

Fifth: So having explained that only Elain has been foreshadowed to reject her mating bond, how does this affect the other mating bonds? Does it mean all mating bonds are wrong? That Feysand and Nessian are suddenly also ill-suited?

No. That's like saying one couple getting divorced means all married couples are getting divorced - which is a very conservative speech that society, women included, had before divorce became legal, btw. "If you get divorced you ruin the sanctity of marriage".

In the same chapter I quoted Feyre thinks, right after Rhys explains how there's "wrong" and "right" mating bonds.

>A smile at me—at the rareness, perhaps, of what we had.

Canon states that their bond is rare. Meaning their strong love isn't usual, it isn't a run of the mill mating bond. They chose each other, they loved each other and not all mates can say the same.

Lastly: "Why are you so against the idea of mating bonds if you want Elain being mates with Azriel?" That's also not true. We're not against the idea of mating bonds, of Elain's bond with Lucien being real and not some magic-made bond like another SJM character had.

And about this I have to say, not every Elriel thinks Elain and Azriel are mates. Some think that his mate is actually Mor, and it would be a powerful story for him to choose Elain over his mate - I personally don't think it's the case because for me that's something SJM has reserved for Elain: choosing true love over your mate and she wouldn't duplicate that story for Mor/Azriel. Some people think Elain has two bonds, one with Lucien one with Azriel. Some Elriels don't think they're mates at all. It differs.

I personally go back and forth, and we know Sarah's written different kinds of mating bonds in her books, as well as a couple not being mated at all. So it can go either way. I personally think there's some foreshadowing for showing how they are mates. Such as:

>The ancient healer jerked her chin toward Lucien. “See what he can do. If anyone can sense if something is amiss, it’s a mate.”
ACOWAR, Ch. 28

Lucien ultimately could not do anything, he didn't sense what was "amiss". It was Azriel, a couple chapters later:

>Elain’s brows twitched toward each other. “The queen—with the feathers of flame.”
The shadowsinger angled his head.
Lucien murmured to me, eye still fixed on Elain, “Should we—does she need …?”
“She doesn’t need anything,” Azriel answered without so much as looking at Lucien.
Elain was staring at the spymaster now—unblinkingly.
“We’re the ones who need …” Azriel trailed off. “A seer,” he said, more to himself than us. “The Cauldron made you a seer.”
ACOWAR, Ch. 32

Next chapter:

>Elain turned to Mor, who was now gaping at my sister from her spot beside her on the couch. “Is that what this is?
And the words, the tone … they were so normal-sounding that my chest tightened. (...) Elain blinked and blinked, eyes clearing again. As if the understanding, our understanding … it freed her from whatever murky realm she’d been in.

I know there's some twisted narrative out there that it was Lucien's suggestion of sunlight that helped her and that's just not true. Again. While everyone looked at her like she'd lost it:

>My stomach dropped to the floor. One glance at Nesta confirmed that she felt it, too. Saw it.
Mad. Elain might very well have gone mad—
ACOWAR, Ch. 27

It was Azriel figuring out her powers that helped her come out of the state of being inbetween reality and visions.

So that's some heavy foreshadowing for me. Although I do agree that a story of them not being mated would also be super powerful and would make the "love would trump even a mating bond" infamous phrase, come true.

Feel free to add your own questions the curious people want answered from Elriels in the comments. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff, and I'll come back and edit bc I always miss mistakes when I'm typing this.

People love to throw around the world cliche, and overdone and boring, lazy writing, and many negative adjectives more when talking about Elain and Az or 3 brothers with 3 sisters.

We've discussed at length, I'm sure, how that's not actually the case and it's just a way for people to find some way to make sense of how much they don't want Elriel to happen.

But after yesterday's post of how Elriel presents potential for a new and fresh couple in the ACOTAR world, I'm curious about this topic for Elain specifically.

I've been a romance reader for a majority of my life. In different genres, not always fantasy, but always been a sucker for romance. I've been a lot out of the loop however, lately, and I'm not certain what authors are doing nowadays because I've way less time than I did 5 to 10 years ago to sit down and read for days on end. Which is why I don't know the latest tendencies for romance. I'm sure it hasn't changed that much.

What I'd like to know though is if Elain proposes something other authors weren't doing.

Maybe at his point nearly 10 years after ACOWAR came out and Elain had just figured out she was a seer or just killed the King of Hybern while at the same time being very kind and polite and into soft hobbies like gardening (although gardening is a workout but that's a different story lol) a lot of authors have jumped on this wave of the soft FMC before Sarah gave us the Elain book. So she might be a little late to the game. Again, I don't know bc I'm not too caught up on the latest popular romances.

We can all agree that Elain is a softer type of character. But there's also an edge to her. And I'm curious why you think people are so against her being an FMC when, in my reading experience, she proposes something very different from the baddie clad in full right leather, covered with weapons and not afraid of brute force type of FMC other books have (Tris, Katniss even Feyre and Nesta to name a few obvious ones).

Would Elain truly be so bad? Stepping out of this overdone thing we've read so many times already? I feel she has much more potential than Nesta did for her spin-off, considering we had no idea where Nesta's journey was taking her or that she'd become a Valkyrie (not at all bc Nesta had less potential, just less foreshadowing), while we already have some hints that Elain is training in stealth, mastering keeping secrets, arriving to rooms unnoticed, being suspected to not be where she said she'd be.

I reckon I'm very biased, and I know this is a sub full of people who have very different perspectives on some stuff so I can't wait to see what you think of this.

.

People thinking that anyone other than Elain is getting a rejected mating bond plot when it's only been brought up in relation to her have me like

https://preview.redd.it/d7vk3157bmfh1.png?width=200&format=png&auto=webp&s=eff6cd4b4a3d867573c3514fe970da00342e6f40

Are we okay? How are we that much in denial that it's about LoA and Helion or Beron when neither are introduced are mates, or Eris/Mor when...same thing, they're not mates in canon. One can speculate, sure. But reality is the only times both in the books and during interviews that Sarah's introduced the idea that mating bonds could be rejected was in regards to Elain's mating bond, the one she doesn't want.

How have people convinced themselves that it could go any other way, or let alone it won't happen at all?? I'm honestly always so confused with this fandom.

If you had the chance to enter the acotar books and become a character of your choice, who would you choose?

If we had to ignore all the trauma and dying/near dying they've endured 😂

Me personally I'm a terrible baker and all my plants die hopelessly every time, so being like Elain would be amazing to me. Plus in the spirit of Nuala and Cerridwen week, and at the risk of being repetitive, they sound like the most interesting friends to have! I'd love to be in her shoes.

What about you? It can be from the Night Court, or any other** Court (the summer Court sounds awesome to me).