#& I wanted to resolve the 'I don't know' answers I input so I wouldn't be a himbo. I wanted to be anything else

[gayfandomblog]

I remember the minute It was like a switch was flipped— I was just a kid who grew up strong enough To pick this armor up And suddenly, it fit God, that was so long ago, long ago, long ago... I was little, I was weak and perfectly naive And I grew up too quick Now you won’t see all that I have to lose And all I've lost in the fight to protect it I won’t let you in, I swore never again— I can't afford, no, I refuse to be rejected

[...]

Here I am, pry me open What do you want to know? I’m just a kid who grew up scared enough To hold the door shut And bury my innocence But here's a map, here's a shovel Here’s my Achilles' heel I’m all in, palms out, I’m at your mercy now and I'm ready to begin I am strong, I am strong, I am strong enough to let you in.

Sleeping at Last - “Eight”

[bookofmirth]

It's just impression, maybe.

If they're still on theory off Az and Elain's page, he disobeyed Rhys and everything and I don't think he did. If he met Elain in secret, wouldn't it look like "Hidden Love" would happen under Az's influence?

Would Elain, influenced by Az, keep it a secret instead of trying to talk to Feyre and work it out on her own?

Couldn't Elain appear to have no will of her own and let Az fight for her?

Even so, to have it, because Feyre and Nestha would put Rhys in his place if they knew that the couple "In Love" is forbidden to be together.

Sarah always does Couples inside the pages and doesn't leave the obvious in Acofs of who is next...

Her protagonist has become an extra and I can only see a part of the fandom thinking it's Elain because she's the last sister Acheron.

I think Ellucien closes Acotar with a lot of good sense and would love it.

I'm not sure you understand the essence of what I mean.

I think I got you!

There are a lot of implications of these theories that haven't been thought out. Like you said, the assumption that Azriel is willing to fight for Elain assumes that he has been disobeying Rhys, which we don't have evidence of. It also assumes that, like you said, Elain would go along with it and hide it from her sisters. And that Elain would keep being passive, letting someone else fight her battles for her. I don't think that's what anyone wants for her? For her to just be quiet and submissive and pretty and 🙂

When you say that it's under Az's influence, do you mean that he is taking charge? It does seem like he's the one who wanted to rebel, and that isn't in Elain's character. Elain is generally a people pleaser and doesn't create conflict. Nesta and Feyre are the people Elain has been closest to her whole life, so it feels out of character if she were to decide to go against Rhys, ignore what she knows about the mating bond, and have this whole relationship in secret without input or help from either Nesta or Feyre.

You're also 100% right that if Elain told either Nesta or Feyre that she wanted to be in a relationship with Azriel and that Rhys had forbidden it, Rhys would have gotten his ass kicked by one of them. He's already way too involved in that sister relationship.

But you're also right that Sarah doesn't do off-page romance. Especially the beginning of the romance. These are fantasy romance, and so it would be completely against the genre for anyone's relationship to start off page. Personally, I wouldn't be interested in that? The whole point is seeing how people overcome their internal or external conflicts and realize their feelings.

I kinda understand the argument that the next book should be Elain's based on the three sisters - however, we know there is another full book, and finishing the series with a character who isn't an Archeron? That doesn't make sense to me. In ToG, we had a story that took us away from Aelin for a minute, but then the series still closed by focusing on her. It makes sense because it makes the story come full circle.

If the next book were Elain's, we would have gotten her POV or her thoughts at some point. If the next book were Elain's and the Az chapter was the way she tried to introduce that to us, I'd be pissed because Elain is more than her sexual urges. It would frame her entire character in romantic terms, though we know she has many other issues that need to be resolved that have zero (0) to do with romance. If anyone read acosf and the valkyrie friendship and doesn't understand that friendship and family relationships are just as important to sjm as romantic relationships, then idk what to say to those people.

The Azriel chapter told us more about who he is and what he is going through. If the next book were to be about Elain, I would have expected the same - to get more insight into who she is as an individual and what she is experiencing, thinking, and feeling. I wouldn't want to be introduced to her character in 100% shipping context. If that makes sense.

Yes, we have a lot of questions about her, but that's... because we haven't had her book yet. And we are going to get it, at some point. I have a lot of questions about a lot of the characters, but that doesn't mean I assume they are going to be answered in the next book. That just makes me think that by the end of the series, I'll have most of those answers, if not all of them.

I hope that makes sense! And that I addressed your thoughts. I think you have a lot of valid points!