#And I read acofas and I was like “oh Elain and Lucien's angst is so delicious...”

[romanticatheartt]

I started reading acotar December 2022 and I remember my friend was also reading it. I found this ss from our conversation about Azriel's mate and we both were curious about who is his mate so we searched it and the first name that came up was fkn Eris😭💀

(this is beside the point I'm trying to make but omg we were in shock for 2 days lmao and I think I was done with Feyre's trilogy and was deciding if reading acosf was worth it or not lol)

And then I replied that "omg I thought his mate was that red hair girl, I see people draw him with!"

And now remembering how even back then my heart knew whose side I should choose... I'm proud of myself hehe

[acourtofthought]

This may be too far into headcanon territory… but do you think that Elain was pregnant when she entered the cauldron? I feel like it could explain 1) how Nesta “took something” from the cauldron, perhaps Elain had to give something up and 2) also be a main contributor to the deep depression Elain fell into, and 3) another reason why she distances herself from Lucien… and finally I keep thinking this could be another reason why SJM dropped the detail that Elain slept with Graysen before she was changed.

I know a few have considered this theory but it's not one I ever connected with.

First off, the timeline doesn't work because Elain only slept with Graysen for the first time a month before she was Made.

In their world I doubt there was anyway to confirm a pregnancy that, at that point would have been only 4 weeks along. A

missed period could have been a possible symptom however not confirmation of anything. Morning sickness doesn't typically begin until at least 4 weeks so I can't imagine that would have been a possibility for her. Even if she were pregnant, I don't think she would have had any idea at that point.

Also, if Sarah were going to delve into miscarriages, I would hope she would not introduce it into Elain's storyline given where Elain is at now, 2 years out from having been made. Writing about it now, after Elain is somewhat on the mend and was willing to kiss Az only to then say, "oh by the way, I lost my baby!" seems a little callous to me. During her depression she spoke about wanting to go home, about Graysen looking for her, about the wedding she was supposed to have in a few days. Talking about those things but not mentioning the sadness over the loss of the child? In my opinion it wouldn't read right.

As far as Elain's depression, I think everything she went through all on it's own was reason enough for her state.

Nesta was not engaged and was not attached to being human yet she went on massive downward spiral for nearly a year and struggled to call Cassian her mate because of having to finally let go of the last piece of her humanity.

Elain not only went into the Cauldron, just as Nesta did, but she lost her fiancé and the entire life she had planned for herself as a result. Elain was happy in the human lands, much happier than Nesta ever was. She was also very close to her father and I imagine the thought of having to leave him was also a contributing factors to her struggles.

Feyre went into a depression for killing those fae.

Aelin went into a depression over the loss of Nehemia (and everything that happened surrounding her death).

I think what Elain went through was plenty enough reason for her to have sunk to such a low place without there needing to be some other hidden reason for it.

As far as Elain ignoring Lucien as of the novella, I think it's not all that different from how Nesta behaved with Cassian though Elain had the added angst of being engaged to another and trying to move past the loss of that. While there seemed to be a sliver of hope for Elucien after ACOWAR, once ACOFAS began it became clear Elain was still mourning Graysen and her human life. When SF started, it seemed she had started moving forward from what she lost but it wouldn't make any sense for her to go running into Lucien's arms just like it didn't make sense for Nesta to go running right into Cassian's arms. These sisters have dealt with a ton and there needs to be an adjustment period before they skip happily into the sunset with their bonded for life mate. It's actually healthy (though maybe their execution was poorly done) for them to explore what it is to be fae on their own and even consider other fae males before settling down with THE MOST fae kind of all fae relationships. That way they know they want their mates because of who they are, not what. They won't be accepting their bonds solely because it was just handed to them, they'll accept because they know their mate is the best male around regardless of a bond.

[gwyns]

I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone draw parallels between Feyre leaving Tamlin for her Mate to Elain leaving Azriel for her Mate. (Ignoring the fact I hate Rhysand, the books obviously want me to think he's the best person ever so I'll just pretend). Because that's what I see happening.

Elain and Azriel are so clearly rebounds for one another. Elain's still grieving her human love and life, and Azriel is still hung up on Mor. They're both quiet and available, so they jump to each other. That's it. The Azriel POV was purely about what he wants. How he wants to fuck her and taste her. He's just sex to her.

Even if E/riels had a more convincing case, it's not like SJM hasn't pulled a SIKE on us before. If she goes anywhere with E/riel, she'll undoubtedly pull it back. SJM doesn't take Mating bonds lightly, and she's stated that she loves Lucien. And if anyone deserves the happiness of a bond, it's him.

Feyre and Rhys, and Cassian and Nesta, all had relationships/lovers before Mating. Elain "liking" Az now, (which we're not even clear on), doesn't really mean much.

I'd like to hear your thoughts! You're so good at this, and you always explain my thoughts so perfectly. Love and light 💕💕💕

honestly there are quite a few feysand/elucien parallels that people either don't see or choose to ignore.

rhysand was first presented as a villain to feyre, the same could be applied to lucien just bc of his envolvement with tamlin (that he wrongfully gets blamed for btw idk why e/riels love blaming tamlin's mistakes on lucien). feyre was engaged before she went to rhys, elain was engaged before she met lucien. both were/are? still hung up on their former fiances. feysand as a couple represents the night, elucien would represent (at least in part) day. it's literally night and day with them. they're similar but also wholly their own pairing, it's fascinating to me.

anyway i think i will use this ask to spill some of my e/riel opinions sorry about that! alright let's start off with this controversial statement: i don't think e/riel was ever meant to be endgame.

i've seen it said a few times over the years that sarah changed her mind about elucien and while that's possible bc she also previously changed her mind on lucien and nesta one has to ask themselves..... if she wanted to write a mate bond rejection why didn't she stick with her original plan of lucien and nesta being mates? she's said herself that they wouldn't work but she chose to change lucien's mate to someone who compliments him better, and it's to feyre's other sister no less. that tells me lucien is important and powerful, he's mated to one of the sisters, one of the key players of the entire series.

another point is we can assume (and we could be wrong, let me put this here before someone yells at me or vague blogs about it) that sjm had an elucien endgame in mind when writing acowar, right? and when she was touring for that book hadn't she already started work on acofas? and we know that she's never on social media, so if she had an elucien endgame in mind when she wrote all of the supposed e/riel "evidence" where does that leave us?

drama. tension. conflict. angst.

i think that's what it all comes down to. people will say that elucien was a front while e/riel is the true endgame but... it all seems a bit easy, doesn't it? e/riel is right in your face while elucien is silently brewing in the background. what if the bait and switch isn't elucien, but e/riel?

sarah has shown us before that she likes to use her characters as ways for her other characters to end up with their endgame matches. for example, without tamlin, feyre wouldn't have met rhys. and moving over to throne of glass for a second, if not for chaol, aelin wouldn't have met rowan. and in turn, if aelin hadn't given yrene the money she needed in tab, chaol wouldn't have met her.

are the e/riel scenes romantically coded? yes, probably. i'm not saying they aren't, some people picked up on it but i personally didn't get that vibe myself, especially in acowar, but acofas kinda blurred the lines a bit. but even then, i didn't think they'd work out and i still don't understand the arguments that are supposed to be in their favor from that book. elain says she doesn't want a male so that excludes lucien but not azriel somehow? that line means she doesn't want any fae, she wants a human man, she wants graysen. then we have lucien saying he can't even stand to be in the same room as elain which i never read as a "oh i hate this person" kinda way. no, it's bc the whole situation between them is awkward and it obviously makes both of them uncomfortable. it doesn't help when literally all of the inner circle is constantly around them, and being in the night court in general doesn't give them the privacy to get to know each other.

some people like to ask why build e/riel up at all if they're not going to be together? one thing i've always loved about sjm's books is how she can write relationships. now, let's say you meet someone irl and you like them, eventually maybe fall in love with them, and fail to notice how they're not good for you. maybe everyone around you can see it, but you don't. you want a relationship and you're in a decent one, it should work out. like they're not a bad person, this relationship just isn't right for you in the long run. why waste your time? it's life. sometimes things are good for you at a certain point in time but not later on. sometimes you just end up in a relationship that was never good for you. sometimes you fall out of love with someone. you're constantly learning and adapting to things and that's my stance on e/riel. i think they're both looking for companionship and they're the "safest" and most available option.

taking it back to acofas, azriel was relived to not have to get elain a gift and was still gazing longingly at mor. now in acosf he's avoiding talking about her while wanting to fuck elain and getting defensive when helion mentions mor. he's not over her. he's not going to just completely forget 500 years of pining bc elain showed up, especially when they haven't even helped one another to move on. if they had, we would have seen the proof of that. not just "oh she's hot we both want sex", that doesn't make a healthy relationship.

as for elain, she's been taught she has to act a certain way her entire life. she has to downplay her trauma and emotions to appease others so they don't worry about her. maybe she's even had visions involving lucien that upset/scare her somehow and she's reaching out for something else. i think they're both lonely and desperate (at least on az's end) for someone that they ultimately are drawn to the wrong people.

as for the lack of elucien development... this is how i see it. if they're endgame, why would sarah have all of their big moments happen off screen or as a throwaway line in acosf? elain is getting a book, we know this, and with how much of the story is tied to lucien and how much is left unresolved with him, we can also assume he'd get a pov at some point. so imo it makes sense for the fact we got little to no development for them in acosf. no, she wants a huge wedge between them so we can watch them come together. the payoff will be that much sweeter. kinda similar to how she put a wedge between nessian before acosf, sure they had more development in acowar than elucien but i think that's bc sarah knew they'd get the first spinoff. she had to give them that development whereas elucien can wait, a bit longer. it's frustrating yes but i do think we'll get something in acotar 5.

maybe i'm an optimistic fool, maybe sarah did at one point have an endgame in mind for them, but i find it hard to believe she wouldn't see how wrong they are for each other in the long run. she's very good at showing us how well characters fit together with just a few lines.