u/elainsgirll

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well 💙🩷

I am making this announcement to inform you all of a discord server created for elriels,

Its called elrielcentric, a place where live discussions surrounding the next books will take place. Its intended to be an elriel centred podcast,

The first live session will happen today at 10pm uk time,

Here is the link to join the discord 💕

https://discord.gg/N2sRsAhQ8

Knowing Koshei is a big player in the next books, lets rehash his mythology, particularly,

"Marya Morevna"

Marya is a warrior princess married to Ivan, who has 3 sisters. She gets kidnapped by Koschei so Ivan sets off to save her. With the help of his sisters and their husbands - He kills Koshei and saves Marya.

Marya = Vassa, whose cursed by Koshei and
someone he wants
Ivan = Lucien, whose Ivan and wants to save Vassa.

In ACOSF, Lucien is distanced from the IC, there are hints he is no longer to be trusted due timo his growing alliance with Vassa and he sets his target on Koshei's lake for Vassa. He is a spellcleavers son and Vassa is under a cursed that needs to be undone.
The 3 sisters are obviously the Archeron sisters who are mates/in love with 3 batboys.
Each sister + husband work together to help kill Koshei, though it is Ivan that gives the finishing blow.
Each Archeron + batboy pair will all contribute into weakening Koshei whilst Lucien works to undo Vassa's curse and they both travel to Koshei's lake to ki
OR Koshei kidnaps Vassa and Lucien travels to save her.

The most interesting part is this: You cannot Kill Koshei as he is immortal, to kill him you need to first destroy his immortality which is hidden inside objects in a box buried on a deserted Island.

in ACOWAR, this is what Elain sees:

Elain shifted her face toward him. Another blink.
"They sold her-to... to some darkness, to some ... sorcerer-lord ..." She shook her head. "I can never see him. What he is. There is an onyx box that he possesses, more vital than anything ... save for them. The girls. He keeps other girls-others so like her-but she ... By day, she is one form, by night, human again.

We dont know where this box is but Elain will look for it, probably through scrying or her visions, which should lead her to the Prison aka the deserted islamo filled with mist and shadows.
She will find Koshe's box and destroy its contents, weakening Koshei enough that Vassa and Lucien can kill him at his lake.

That is how harmony is restored

💙🩷

I remember pre-acosf, how LOVED and praised these 3 were, especially on tiktok. There was barely any hate on them however after acosf, its like a switch flipped and these 3 became so hated and despised whilst the vanserra brothers started getting more love.

Thats fine and all, preferences change and many people felt as though acosf ruined the batboys' as characters however sometimes I feel like the criticism they receive is so out of pocket...that it doesn't even make sense anymore. Trust me, I LOVE being a hater - but its more fun when you're hating for valid reasons, not non-sensical ones.

Readers are entitled to their own opinions over these characters but I feel like so many batboy antis need to sit down and take into consideration- Author intention.

Be honest: Do you genuinely believe Maas wanted you to come away from these books thinking:

. Rhys groomed Feyre and is manipulating her into having his children and keeping her at his side because she is so powerful

. Or that Cassian doesn't actually love Nesta and he SA'd/took advantage of her throughout the book and nessian is basically what Rhys x Amarantha were

. Or that Azriel is a disrespectful male who talks over someone else's needs as well as being lustful, toxic, possesive and the future tamlin towards Elain.

Because I can guarantee, thats not the case. A lot of people hate the batboys in an exaggerated way, to justify that hatred because they know how baseless it is, they make stuff up and purposely misconstrue the text.

The vanserra brothers are interesting and have their moments, but the batboys? They are the standard love interests of this series. Its ok to simply say you don't vibe with the batboys instead of throwing accusations about them that are simply not true.

Author intention > Reader interpretation.

You can absolutely not like a character HOWEVER when discussing them especially in context of their future or even their scenes in the books, its equally important to take into consideration what the author is intending for you to take away and usually that is found in the subtext & tone of the book.

Hot take - another reason why Gwynriel won't happen is because it is Moriel in another font.
It feel recessive for Azriel's character to end up with a bubbly female-warrior. He was in love with Mor for so long, a relationship that was always doomed to fail, only for him to end up with Gwyn...another female-warrior? Thats his grand love story, to end up with someone whose essentially like Mor? It wouldn't read as a love story but just Azriel replacing Mor wth someone...exactly like her.

Whereas with Elain it's different. She is different yet manages to compliment him perfectly: Their demeanor is similar, their powers & experiences with those powers are alike - even their mannerisms echo of each other.

Ariel is a prime example of a character where what he "wants" (Mor) is actually not what he needs (Elain).

All this to say: Having Azriel move on from Mor only to end up with someone whose exactly like her, isn't a good character arc/love story for him.

I find it very interesting that Maas actually showed us what Eluciens bond felt like,

""Like you pulled on a thread tied to a rib."

And then Lucien's suprise that there was actually something between them,

"There's a bond-it's a real thread," he said, more to himself than us.

A single thread that ties them together.

For Nessian, it was multiple golden threads between their souls. For Feysand, an unbreakable chain between their souls. For elucien...a single thread tied to a bone...it feels so lackluster and so unromantic in comparison.

Then comes the question, why could Lucien, not only see, but actually tug on the bond? We also later find out he is a spellcleaver, and from Helion we know spells are made up of threads.

Now, Imagine being bonded to someone who you do not want. You're incompatible with them. There's no attraction. You do not want them yet you're forced together by a bond from nature that neither of you wanted...it sounds like a curse, right?

When trying to undo Vassa's curse, Feyre & Helion are looking for threads to unbind it:

I'd never seen such spell work. I'd sent my power over her, Helion too, hunting for any possible threads to unbind it.

I wonder if incompatible bonds are single threads tying two people together, not by their souls, but by bones therefore it's possible to unbind that thread especially by a spellcleaver who can see it.

On top of that: anything that comes from the cauldron is made therefore cauldron bonds are made…there’s a certain dagger that can potentially unmake elucien’s bond by cutting through their thread OR the way Nesta unmade Briallyn, I wonder if Elain can unmake the bond.

I fully believe Lucien and Elain will mutually reject their bond by finding a way to undo the thread tied to Elains rib, which would free them both. There’s multiple ways this can be achieved, idk why certain people act as though its so impossible to do. If Maas wants a bond to be broken, she will find a way for it to happen without elain or lucien having to constantly feel it.

One of the biggest reasons I am so laid-back and chilled with the shipwar and confident with elriel being endgame is because…nothings changed for me.

I read these books 6 years ago. I’ve been in this fandom for 5 years and absolutely nothing has changed

I ended acosf knowing Elains book is next and Azriel will be her love interest. A bonus chapter that wasn’t available to me, didn’t change my mind. Interviews, I had no idea even existed, didn’t change my mind. Promotional videos by a publishing house I dont even follow, didn’t change my mind. Merch, Which I would have been clueless about if not for tumblr, has not changed my mind. Acosf, a standalone spinoff, has not changed my mind especially when that last elriel interaction was a charged glance, doesn’t seem like a buried ship to me. Interacting in this fandon, has not changed my mind.

5 years ago, I believed Elriel was endgame and their book was next. 5 years later, that belief has held. Because nothings changed. Acosf ended with the 3 sisters. Acosf ended with Elain and Azriel holding Nyx, a symbol of the future. Acosf ended with elriels charged glance. Acosf is a standalone spinoff. Its not the start of a new triology. Elriel has been built up along with Nessian in acowar because that is the book Maas laid foreshadowing out for the future spinoffs. Gwynriel did not exist then. It didn’t exist in FAS even though Maas knew how acosf would unfold and what the next spinoff would be about, ask yourselves, does it make sense for Sjm to not foreshadow a main couple like Gwynriel in acowar/acofas where she foreshadowing Nessian and other spinoffs subplots? No , right? That speaks volumes.

Its so easy to get swept up but in the end what matters is what you believed the next story will be about after you read the last page of acosf. I can gurantee you, no one finished acosf thinking elucien or gwynriel or the valkryies or another Nesta or a brycerial or azriel book is next. These beliefs came AFTER limited edition bonuses were read. AFTER misrepresented interviews came out, AFTER a crossover. AFTER merch. AFTER interacting in echo chambers.

Not before.

💖