#let's not forget how bad acofas was

[hereathemoment]

"he avoided her as much as possible" -- a blatant lie

"you aren't the first and you won't be the last" -- a glaring lack of sympathy or care

the only nice thing he has to say about her is about her body. he says she has a "piss-poor" attitude and implies he wants to fight her ("a desire of a different sort"). wth.

SJM is punishing nesta through cassian, for not liking the inner circle. Cassian siding with rhysand so many times and the way he sees feyre and Mor feels like a direct response of sjm. I don't believe she's capable of writing first-person and not self-insert. It's why nesta is at such opposition of herself and why cassian treats her like shit all of a sudden. Not to mention he's in love with rhysand. I mean he really is

Cassian’s reaction to a malnourished Feyre

Cassian’s reaction to a malnourished Nesta:

[merwgue]

Tamlin is one of the most misunderstood and controversial characters in the ACOTAR series, and while some of his actions—like locking Feyre up—were inherently wrong and abusive, they stem from deep-rooted trauma and manipulation, making his story much more complex than people give him credit for.

1. Trauma from Amarantha – 50 Years of Hell Tamlin spent 50 years under Amarantha’s rule, being groomed and manipulated. He was powerless to save his court and the other courts from suffering, and that burden fell squarely on his shoulders. For half a century, Tamlin lived under the constant pressure of being the one to break the curse, with everyone’s freedom hanging on him. He was traumatized, broken, and desperate, having endured endless torment. This trauma shaped his every decision when it came to Feyre, and while his actions—like locking her up—were wrong, they were driven by deep-seated fear and an overwhelming need to protect her, which he saw as his only chance at redemption.

Tamlin’s fear wasn’t just about control; it was about trying to keep Feyre safe after having lost control over everything else for decades. But, of course, that doesn’t excuse his abusive behavior. It was wrong, but it’s important to understand where that behavior came from—trauma, manipulation, and the belief that if he failed to protect her, he would fail once again.

2. Reactive Abuse in ACOWAR – Feyre Deliberately Provoking Tamlin In A Court of Wings and Ruin, Feyre plays a dangerous game of provoking Tamlin to make him react in ways that paint him as the villain. This is reactive abuse. She comes back to the Spring Court with the intention of tearing it down from the inside, manipulating Tamlin’s emotions and pushing him to his breaking point. She does things deliberately to make him angry and hurt him, knowing he will react out of frustration and heartbreak.

While Tamlin’s actions in earlier books were abusive, Feyre’s calculated manipulations in ACOWAR cannot be ignored. She deliberately enrages him, knowing exactly what buttons to push, and when he reacts, he’s painted as the bad guy. But let’s not forget: Tamlin was already mentally broken and reeling from losing Feyre, and she intentionally took advantage of that vulnerability.

3. Feyre Destroying His Court – Overkill Feyre’s decision to destroy Tamlin’s entire court is a massive overreaction. Yes, they broke up, and yes, Tamlin made mistakes, but wiping out his entire kingdom because of a failed relationship? It’s spiteful and malicious. Feyre didn’t just want to hurt him emotionally—she wanted to ruin his entire life, his legacy, and everything he had worked to protect. And for what? A breakup? The level of destruction she brings to the Spring Court is wildly disproportionate to Tamlin’s mistakes. She knowingly and willfully destroyed the home and people he loved, leaving him with nothing but ruin.

4. Tamlin Saving Rhysand’s Life in ACOWAR – And Still Getting Trashed Tamlin’s good deeds get completely overlooked in favor of villainizing him. In ACOWAR, he literally saved Rhysand’s life during the battle. Rhys was on the brink of death, and despite everything, Tamlin stepped in to rescue him. Tamlin put aside his grievances and his heartbreak to do the right thing, proving that despite his flaws, he still cared enough to save someone who had wronged him.

But instead of gratitude or any kind of recognition, Rhysand continues to trash Tamlin in ACOFAS and ACOSF. He makes snide comments, mocks him, and even invades Tamlin’s court just to taunt him. It’s infuriating when you consider that Rhys wouldn’t even be alive without Tamlin’s help. How can someone who owes his life to Tamlin continue to treat him like dirt? It’s an example of how skewed the narrative is in Rhysand’s favor.

5. Rhysand’s Hypocrisy – His Own Crimes Ignored Let’s not forget that Rhysand literally murdered Tamlin’s family. Yes, Rhysand’s family suffered a great loss, but they initiated the blood feud by attacking first. Tamlin’s family was killed in retaliation for Rhysand’s father and brothers attacking them, and yet, all the sympathy is directed at Rhysand’s loss. Tamlin’s pain and trauma from losing his entire family is brushed aside, while Rhysand’s grief is front and center, as if only his loss matters.

Rhysand is glorified, and his family’s death is framed as this great tragedy, but Tamlin’s loss? Barely a footnote. It’s a double standard, especially when you consider that Rhysand’s family brought the conflict on themselves. Tamlin’s trauma from losing his family is completely ignored in favor of building up Rhysand as the hero.

6. Rhysand Telling Tamlin to Kill Himself – Beyond Cruel Rhysand’s treatment of Tamlin post-ACOWAR is downright despicable. Tamlin is left broken, suffering from depression, having lost his court, Feyre, and his family. Instead of showing any empathy, Rhysand invades his court and tells him to kill himself. This is someone who is already at his lowest, and instead of being left in peace, Rhysand shows up just to make his suffering worse. It’s not just toxic—it’s cruel beyond measure. For someone who has supposedly suffered so much himself, Rhysand shows an astonishing lack of empathy for someone else in pain.

7. Tamlin as a Victim of Trauma – Deserving of Understanding In the end, Tamlin is a victim of years of trauma, manipulation, and immense pressure. His actions were wrong, but they were driven by fear and desperation, not malice. Tamlin suffered from Amarantha’s grooming, lost his entire family because of Rhysand’s blood feud, and had his court destroyed by Feyre’s revenge. He is not a one-dimensional villain; he’s a deeply flawed character who was broken by his circumstances.

While Tamlin’s mistakes should be acknowledged, it’s unfair to completely vilify him while Rhysand gets away with far worse. Tamlin’s trauma, pain, and losses are real, and they deserve to be treated with the same understanding and empathy that Rhysand’s story receives. At the very least, Tamlin deserves recognition for the good he has done—saving Rhysand, fighting for his court, and suffering through immense trauma without any support. Tamlin deserved better from both the narrative and the characters around him.

(This took me an hour to write I better see NO ONE discrediting me🤣)

[lady-embers]

I think a lot of people continuously overlook the GOOD Nesta did during the series and only focus on her "hateful attitude". Sometimes actions show more than words and Nesta is an action girly.

ACOTAR- She tried to protect Feyre in the market. She went after Feyre when Tamlin took her. She essentially told Feyre to go and save Tamlin and not to worry about them. She was ready to marry someone to help have one less mouth to feed for Feyre. She chopped wood for two days in a row.

Also, I think this quote is important from book 1 from Feyre about Nesta:

"I looked at my sister, really looked at her, at this woman who couldn't stomach the sycophants who now surrounded her, who had never spent a day in the forest but had gone into wolf territory.... Who had shrouded the loss of our mother, then our downfall, in icy rage and bitterness, because the anger had been a lifeline, the cruelty a release. But she HAD cared - beneath it, she had cared, and perhaps, loved more fiercely than I could comprehend, more deeply and loyally."

ACOMAF - She wasn't in here much but both her and Elain opened their home to Feyre and the IC for the war purposes when they were taught their whole life to be scared/fear the fae and ended up turned against their will for their efforts which is incredibly traumatic.

ACOWAR - Nesta helped with the Queens and the High Lords. She helped Feyre and the whole Raven attack thingy. She participated in the war and almost died trying to save Cassian and then beheaded Hybern. She then helped tend to the wounded and dieing. She really had no time to sort through her own trauma during this time either since she was looking after comatose Elain and in a place where she didn't want to be.

ACOFAS - We see her drowning in her trauma. She can't even take baths (which Feyre had said in ACOWAR she'd help with as she never thought about how the Cauldron affected them). She is invited to party with rent money held over her head (despite the fact she had a job as human emissary during the war so where is the money promised to her from accepting that job from Rhysand?) While there, Feyre remarks how uncomfortable Nesta is but doesn't both to wonder why, and come to find out fire bothers her because it reminds her of her father's neck snapping RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. Cassian runs after her and even though she wants to be alone she's hounded and is seen as the bad guy for not taking his gift. A gift he proceeds to throw away, like a child, into the water because she didn't take it...At this point she just wanted to be left alone and they kept hounding her and not respecting boundaries she was putting up.

ACOSF - She is still drowning..she is forced into the HOW (feyre said she'd be tied and thrown there essentially so it wasn't really a choice) where she has to walk down 10,000 steps (which she physically/mentally/emotionally could not do so she was essentially a prisoner since no help was offered by feyre and Amren own words and let's not forget those same steps were used as punishment for Rhysand and the bat boys)..she starts training though and finds her own found family in Gwyn and Emerie. She helps the IC multiple times with things in ACOSF to and even saves Rhysand, Feyre, and Nyx very lives. She even says sorry to Feyre and Feyre doesn't hold anything against Nesta, not even telling her about the babies wings because at least she told her. We also find out she tried to write letters to others to help during their poverty times and her boots weren't as new as Feyre made then out to be showing Feyre as an unreliable/biased narrator.

All in all, I wouldn't say Nesta is an absolutely terrible horrible nasty person that is beyond redemption or forgiveness.

She is a woman who has been traumatized from a very young age starting with her mother/grandmother to being turned fae to PTSD from war/her father and doesn't know how to cope so she lashes out (which is a VALID TRAUMATIC RESPONSE) to push others away because she HATES herself more than anyone else does. She knew lashing out was wrong but didn't have the tools/upbringing to know healthy responses. It's really not until Gwyn and Emerie came along and showed her UNCONDITIONAL LOVE that she began to change and learn better and new healthy coping mechanism to let go of the bad ones.

Now, I'm not saying her trauma response was good or acceptable or excusable, but I do think she deserves some grace and compassion given all she's been through herself. Trauma is not a comparison game after all and we all experience and cope differently. Just like these characters.

Artist is Crisol Crowling or crisolcrowling on IG!

[elainsgirl]

does azriel care for elain? because azriel didnt think elain being capable of being subjected to darkness. he didnt care when when elain was put into the cauldron because he was looking at mor. he didnt care when elain was withering away and was glad that he didnt have to guard her. he didnt care about when elsin was vomiting in terror. yes, he took the potatoes from her but still at the dinner, he was staring longingly at mor at the table. he didnt offer his condolences when her dad died. he would sacrifice himself for feyre and nesta too. theyre friends. he only started wanting her when nesta and cassian hooked up, because he was still longing for more in acofas. theres no way they can be endgame because there isnt emotional support and believing in eachother.

Hey anon, how are you doing? Thanks for the ask.

Azriel’s concern of Elain scrying mirrored Cassian’s concern. Scrying isn’t a minor thing- it’s dangerous & the effects unknown. We know the cauldron was able to lure Elain in easily, who knows the affects scrying can have. I think it was valid. I would only have seen it as toxic if he outright said no to elain about helping out.

Generally speaking…Az showing concern - since he didn’t actually stop elain from scrying or helping out - which side note: If he had chimed in & agreed w Nesta - this would have been the perfect way to break up & end elriel in the book & bonus, anyways

Azriel showing concern = caring about Elains safety. Just like Cass did w Nesta.

Wasn’t Azriel - like everyone else, incapable of doing anything? Don’t forget he was also shot & poisoned but regardless, I know im one of the few elriels who don’t believe elriel were set up to be endgame in acomaf. I was reading acomaf going “yep, elucien and moriel are clearly endgame” so Az looking at Mor during the Hybern scene made sense for me…she was his Li at that time. Elain and Az weren’t set up to be romantic, im not that bothered about what Az did or didnt do during acomaf. I don’t remember Cassian offering his verbal condolences to Nesta when their father died during acowar? Correct me if im wrong. ACOFAS was the book where its clear Elain & Azriel are beginning to develop feelings/a crush is blooming between them. If we got to ACOFAS, where elain and az were making heart eyes at each other - I would be concerned. For me that would show, they’re rebounds and have superficial feelings.

Anon, Azriel loved Mor for 500 years. That love and longing (which I think it’s his way of wanting to feel worthy by her after she slept w his brother) isn’t just going to disappear in thin air. It’s going to take time to move on - which is healthy. Even for Elain, her still reeling back from Grayson in ACOFAS & mourning her life lost in ACOFAS, is healthy. If she wasn’t feeling these things and just went straight too wanting Az - I would then say her feelings for Azriel are surface level & a distraction

But we see Az still wanting Mor. Elain still mourning Gray in acofas and that’s not bad for elriel. No one is claiming Az fell completely in love with Elain during acofas but its clear there were some feelings, a beginning to their relationship. I completely side-tracked, anyways, all these characters would sacrifice themselves tbh.

But Az chose to go save Elain, he wasn’t waiting for anyone else to come, “Im getting her back” Azriel is a skilled warrior, he would have been so useful in the war yet he chose to be irrational and save Elain instead. He clung Elain to his chest, despite dripping blood. And clearly he wouldn’t sacrifice himself for anyone as when the valkryies are taken- Az shows minimal concern and carries on with his job. He doesn’t show the same level of care as Cassian. Its like “chill bro, we trained them. Theyll be fine, lets go” So..I disagree. He wouldn’t save just about anyone.

. Azriel gave Elain TT, he could’ve said “dont worry feyre, Ill protect elain” but instead chose to give elain HIS weapon so she had the means to protect herself - that is the definition of believing in someone.

Azriel took Elain to the gardens. No one asked him too. Azriel listened to elain, her visions and understood what she became. Azriel was the one who stayed up talking to elain about HER hobbies. Azriel, knowing Elain was uncomfortable bcs of Amren, made a joke to take the attention of her. All of these show he does in fact care about Elain. As for emotional support - elriel - quite like Nessian in their book - aren’t fully fleshed out yet, that is the point of the romance book - to develop them further and im sure within the elriel book, we will get lots of moments where Azriel emotionally supports Elain.

Disagree. Azriel wanted Elain pre-acosf, they had moments before Nessian became an offical, public couple.

Elriel very much are endgame. Their foundation is so strong, going back 3-4 books of Mass showing us how well they suit each other, how alike they are, going out of their way for each other, the way they help each other out, can read the other so easily and can’t forget the attraction they feel. No other current potential couple has the same level of effort/groundwork. If elucien is next - they are lacking a lot of foreshadowing & significant moments.If gwynriel are next - again, sorely lacking in foreshadowing, romantic scenes + being paired together in the books.

[cassianfanclub]

Azriel chuckled and said yes to him singing? Is that shutting her up for you? Elriels are just scrambling for anything right know because your ship doesn’t work out. How about him not even acknowledging that elain killed the king ?? He doesn’t gave her credit for it once. And him and elain talking about her garden also happend like a year ago in their world, nobody mentioned them spending time together anymore, but cassian did with gwyn and az.

“She opened her mouth to ask more, but he didn’t feel like explaining. Or demonstrating, since that was surely what she’d ask next. So Az jerked his chin to the sword dangling from her hand. “Try cutting the ribbon again.””

Yes, that’s very much so him shutting her up. In fact, he’s treating her how you treat a toddler when they’re stuck on a subject and asking you a million questions.

The epitome of romance.

Elriel doesn’t work out? Someone should let SJM know since she’s in the middle of editing their book!!

He hasn’t, but he also hasn’t credited Nesta for killing him either. So why does that matter? Is that what you believe makes or breaks a relationship?

Yes, it did. Are you forgetting that Cassian and Nesta didn’t interact with each other for the 9 months that passed between ACOFAS and ACOSF? Az also mentions that he’s staying away from family dinners so as to not have run-ins with Elain bc his feelings for her and the complications of her having a mate. He also mentions that they can both read each other without saying a word- so that would indicate they know each other pretty well. I mean, the man is down so bad he’s questioning fate for her.

What time have Az and Gwyn spent together outside of training? Even their run-in on solstice turned into training bc that’s all their relationship is: training.

We’re inside of Az’s head for one chapter and he refers to Gwyn as the “young priestess” and thinks of her SA when he sees her. Thats not a romance in the making.

I hope for all of our sakes, SJM announced Elain’s book soon. Have a good one 💕

[nikethestatue]

Not a question, just a statement. I honestly don’t really care about a ship war. I think everyone is allowed to interpret and root for whoever they want. But what I don’t understand, past so many cannon signs, is how people genuinely believe that the next book could be Azriels. Let alone Gwyn. At the end of ACOWAR, we end with Feyre and Rhys flying in the sky, a gift of being together. It’s their conclusion as the main couple in the series. The next book is a NOVELLA. Novellas are always books that either are prequels (like assassin blade for example) or a change in direction for a series. The latter is ACOFAS. We still have Feyre and Rhys POVs because they will always be main characters, but we begin to hear the voices of other characters: Mor, Cassian and Nesta. This is not an accident. It’s laying down the ground work for the rest of the series. Specifically, we see Nesta and cassian begin their journey of reluctant mates. And the beginning of Nestas story of healing and growth. We also see Cassian’s care for the women in Illyria not training. We also see some things about Mor (like her estate) that we never saw in the plot. We also see a glimpse in to what might have happened with Eris. Could this be in terms of her past, powers and love life? What else do we see in ACOFAS? The continuation of Elain and Lucien not having a connection, and we actually see Lucien and hear from his own mouth about being in the Band of Exiles. What else do we see? Azriel stating he doesn’t spy on Lucien (and he’s a spymaster?? With him saying it’s an invasion of Elain’s privacy: with RHYS thinking it’s more just not to know what they are doing) and then the taking of the plate scene with Azriel being upset with his brother for not waiting for Elain. We see her give Az the headache powder, and him having such a joyous laugh that Feyre never heard before. His eyes being bright. Them sitting and going over the garden plans at three in the morning when everyone else is going to bed. What else do we see? Az not wagering on Lucien coming to solstice while looking out of the window at the garden. What else? Cassian not wanting to wager on women training consistently in Illyria. What else? Amren telling Feyre that Elain has her own problems to focus on, with a pointed look. I could LITERALLY go on. This novella that people give a 3 star rating and saying that is boring is FILLED with plot starting events. Let’s look at ACOSF:

what happens:

Nesta is lost in her trauma and mental health issues

She is forced to train with Cassian, or be sent to the human realms and is sent to the House of Wind

Cassian and Nesta become physical, but there is still that emotional boundary, even though we all know there is something there. THEY also know something is there. Reluctant mates.

who comes into the plot? ERIS. We still don’t know what happened with Mor, but he becomes more visible in the plot. Which was shown in ACOFAS through Mor when she goes to the court of nightmares. She talks about it.

what else happens? The valkayie. A women specific training plot. An an Illyrian women (emerie) comes into play. And she ALSO was in ACOFAS mind you.

Lucien and the band of exiles are in this book as well, and we see cassian’s account of the dynamic between the three of them.

we also see Az being more aloof than usual, and cassian mentions this several times. He sees him brooding way more. And he specifically mentions how he doesn’t need to buffer Mor and Az anymore like he used to. That Az seems to have finally given up after 500 years

we get INTRODUCTED to Gwyn here. Note how she was NOT in ACOFAS? Emrie was, because she feeds into the Illyria plot here. Gwyn has a specific plot of being Nesta’s friend. And also just a bad ass women who overcomes such terrible events in her life to become a true warrior. And to become nesta’s first true friend. People forget that Feyre has Mor and Amren, Elain has Nuala and Cerriwden (sorry if that’s wrong) and Nesta FINALLY has two friends. And how many is in each? 3. Just like the bat boys and the band of exiles. Like Lucien also finally gets 2 friends. (Also want to point out. Notice how Feyres two friends involve Rhys? How Nesta and cassian are involved in training with the Valkaryie? Does this allude to Elains relationship with the wraiths being a connection to Az? Does the band of exiles mean something for Lucien? That’s up to interpretation).

what happens at last? Nesta and Cassian stop fighting their feelings and become mates.

what else happens? The plot around the troves and koschei thickens. And Elain starts to push that she is willing to help the IC. Building into her own book…? Ya. Literally. Not to mention the plot with Koschei that also has Azriel involved “I was waiting to meet you” vibes.

so where did so many of these plot points come from? Literally from the little boring novella that people want to skip over. It’s the literal building blocks for the rest of the ACOTAR series… and I’m totally missing points in it as well. These are JUST off the top of my head. And I read ACOFAS last year lol. The next book is Elains book. And the novellas? Could be Mor or Gwyn or Lucien. It could be Vassa as well.. But the main plot revolves around the sisters and the bat boys. There’s so much cannon that makes it hard to imagine that it won’t be Elain and Az next. But I don’t even wanna go there. I don’t hate any of these characters. They are all literally so flawed, that if we are only looking at flaws, we should hate them all. If we can all go from hating Nesta to having a better understanding at bare minimum or even LIKING her.. then why not for Elain? Since the beginning it’s clear that Elain has been undervalued and not considered. Being she is seen as weak. Always just deemed the pretty useless one. Like she is an SEER. Something just as rare as a shadow singer. And SJM has continuously implied she will not put women against each other. I really loved Gwyns role in Nesta’a story, and I’m not ruling out her being a lightsinger (because why else was that even brought up in ACOSF?? And why does she bring up singing with Az?? Because he’s a shadow singer? Doesn’t seem necessary unless it alludes to something. Nothing is random for SJM). BUT if she isn’t, then I’m still glad we got to see her. I think a telling sign, past the bonus, is that Gwyn went back to the library. If the next book was going to focus on her, she would not be going back. She would be moving forward. But she isn’t ready.. training or not. And that’s OKAY. She could still be a part of the plot, which might be implied in her being in the bonus. But the bonus takes place in the middle of the book mind you. And tbh I PERSONALLY feel it is to add to the plot in a lightsinger way. But that’s just my own interpretation. You can have your own if you want! And like she went through a fucking lot. The next book is clearly Elains journey, which involves Az and Lucien. And in that, it involves Vassa and Koschei.

so anyways, sorry for the super long rant. But I hope this makes sense to people? The ship war can be fun, but I think we seriously need to stop being so mean to people just because they envision a different person with one of the main characters. In all honesty, I trust SJM to follow through on whoever Elain is with. Who Az is with.Who Lucien is with. Who Gwyn is with. Who Mor is with. Who Emerie is with. And even who Eris is with. She is the CREATOR of these characters. And we can speculate, but in the end she truly knows what’s best. She hasn’t been wrong yet… even Amren and Varian is cute as fuck lol. So anyways. Thank you for reading. And let’s all just be happy we get some time in this world!!!

But that's why the other side specifcially HATES ACOFAS and actually recommends skipping it because 'there is nothing there. It's a Christmas Special'.

Whereas, as you said, Anon, ACOFAS is a blueprint for what would be happening going forward and the future stories.

When it comes to Elriel, we see Lucien being the point of contention between them, so we know that this will be addressed and would play a significant part in the book. We know that the Elriel relationship would probably come as a surprise to many and that it will start secretly. Kind of under everyone's noses, but also people keep missing the signs. I think the biggest misinterpreter of signs will be Rhys, because he, again and again, presents a narrow POV which is completely misaligned with what is happening around him. I think there is also something to be said about Rhys really not knowing his closest friends and confidants--I think that that needs to be dealt with as well.

Yes, I think it's fun to ship, but i think there needs to be some logical foundation to shipping and basic understanding of text. There is a logical flow to books and then there is crackshipping. I've noticed that in this fandom, crackshipping has become an art form. People start believing in their own theories a little too much.

Like SJM went and killed Sigrid in the fist 1/3 of the book, whereas we spent so much time on her in HOSAB. Who is to say she won't do the same with Gwyn? I think unless it's a main, readers need to be cautious with their wild theories and their excessive confidence.

[captain-of-the-gwynriel-ship]

IC was far less toxic than nesta was to them. Those of you who feel their treatment of her was oh so unfair? are people IRL that don’t believe in consequences for your foul behavior or actions

Alright I finally get anon asks so I should have expected something like this.

First off, they were all toxic to each other. If we start counting the times one was toxic to another we could write a whole separate book, not to mention what happens off page. A healthy relationship does not count grievances against the other. You forgive and let live, especially when you live with them forever.

Rhys went into his relationship with Nesta (and Elain) with prejudices, which never goes well. Nesta and Rhys are both INCREDIBLY similar in personalities, and they hate the things about the other that makes them the same. Until they clear the air and see and respect each other as equals they will never be able to move forward. SJM did say in an interview that we were going to see the consequences between them for what Nesta did at the end of ACOSF.

In ACOWAR, Mor did try to reach out but the moment Nesta started showing signs of her trauma Mor went 180 and stopped reaching out her hand. Don’t get me started on the cassian and mor drama there and how cassian let’s mor get in the way of him showing Nesta intimacy in front of his family.

Cassian is kinda on my shit list with how he treats Nesta the majority of ACOSF.

Feyre tried to reach out, but she and Nesta were always like oil and water with each other. Two dominant personalities fighting for control.

Amren is a 15,000 year old cranky old bat (I say that semi-lovingly). She does not have many long term relationships besides the IC, and really that is less than 1/30th of her life so far. She gave Nesta a chance to be her friend, but ultimately stopped fighting for her for reasons we may never really know.

Azriel, my love, is the only one who consistently treated Nesta with kindness and like she was an equal and that is why they have a good relationship with each other. Azriel doesn’t judge and ultimately has a connection to Nesta the way cassian and feyre have a connection with each other. Az and Nesta both feel like they don’t fit into the “in crowd” (aka the IC) due to the darkness within them. They also suffered generational family trauma.

Nesta’s trauma from the cauldron never stopped. Yes, she pushed it down to fight in the war, but she was never ready. She used the war as a goal to get to, to put her mind to something and be helpful. She is fiercely loyal to those she feels deserves her loyalty and has shown that they have earned it. By the end of the war she felt like she didn’t deserve what was being handed to her just because she was Feyre’s sister. She failed to keep the wall up to protect the humans and failed to save her father. Two impossible tasks that were placed on her shoulders. She had been taking magic lessons with amren for a couple of weeks before the war started. There is no way she would have been able to master her unknown power during that time, not to mention people just assumed she would be able to do it. She couldn’t save anyone, but at least she saved cassian. In that moment, he became the next impossible thing that she would not deserve. We are left in ACOWAR with Nesta being tentative in where she is in life. As of then, everything was being provided for her because she was Feyre’s sister. And that had been what happened to her for years. They stayed alive because of her in the cottage, they were brought back their wealth status because of her relationship to tamlin, and they were brought comfort and a life in velaris because of her and her relationship with rhys. Nesta didn’t feel like she earned any of it. Skip 6 months later to ACOFAS and Nesta is showing signs of depression, PTSD, and substance abuse. After the war, she spiraled. And she lashed out. And it was bad.

Not only was she repressing her trauma, she was repressing her magic. Don’t forget that rhys said that repressing your magic can make you go literally insane. She was on her whits end when ACOSF finally came around. She was drinking not just socially but to blatantly forget. She couldn’t take baths in bath tubs or listen to a fire crackle because it triggered her trauma. She was sleeping with random dudes left and right to numb her pain. She was out spending Rhys’s money on her bad coping habits.

I could keep going, but I’m not going to. Simply put, they all contributed to the toxic relationship between each other. The end of ACOSF does not mean it’s the end of Nesta’s journey, if anything it’s just the beginning. She and the IC have a lot of interpersonal patching up to do.

Did rhys and feyre do the right thing by stripping away Nesta’s rights and commandeering her up at the HoW? Probably not. They both have a streak of having good intentions but poor execution. Nesta needed a push to get her out of her head. The IC pushed for her to train because they all were able to push through their trauma’s by training. Feyre also explains why she needed to be in the library as well. Nesta loves books and reading, and by working in the library she will be surrounded by priestesses who also went through trauma and hoped it would bring her joy. At the end of the day, Nesta was a problem for their court and they handled it the way they thought best. Was it the right solution? Maybe not. But they are leaders and have to make hard decisions sometimes, and sometimes they aren’t always the best.

Nesta would not have done well with the coddling and the nice route the way feyre did. It just isn’t part of her personality. It wasn’t until she met gwyn and emerie and started developing the valkyrie did she start digging herself out of her hole. Unfortunately for Nesta, she had to be put into this shitty situation to find them.

Ultimately, if I’m ever mad at the situation, I’m usually mad at SJM for dealing with Nesta’s trauma the way that she did. Ultimately, we have seen the IC through the rose colored lenses that feyre sees them through. Through Nesta’s eyes we see them with the blinders off. Their personalities are the same but now don’t fit into the narrative for nesta. Just like feyre found her own family and made a new path for herself, so does nesta. Everyone wants to wash away her healing journey because they It wasn’t until she met gwyn and emerie and started developing the valkyrie did she start digging herself out of her own hole.

I love the IC, I love Nesta, I love the valkyries. I believe one day they can live their lives peacefully and bridge the gaps between them. Nesta now has a role that she has paved for herself and sees her worth in her own eyes now. And that might be the biggest takeaway from ACOSF. These characters are morally grey for a reason. They are layered and deep and if they can give each other grace, so can we.

[acourtofthought]

I think the IC sympathizing with Lucien in ACOFAS and ACOSF is kind of confirmation for an Elucien endgame. We have Mor telling Feyre to stay out of it and give them time, Cassian feeling bad for him, Nesta warming up to him (VERY important since she was against him being around Elain the most), Feyre telling Elain he’s a good male and telling her to give him a chance (didn’t enjoy that convo much as I agree Feyre needs to leave them be), Rhys clearly respects him enough to cockblock his brother of 500 years and we know Rhys puts his family first.

Whereas Nesta and Rhys seem to be the only ones aware of Azriel’s feelings for Elain. Cassian was even confused when Elain looked away, meaning he knows/suspects nothing. Az is quiet and stoic so no one suspecting is not a surprise until we compare it to the Mor situation - he doesn’t hide his feelings and that’s basically the “secret” no one talks about. When he’s looking at Mor it’s all longing, heat, yearning… when he’s looking at Elain it’s intense and bland smiles. Not that exciting, imo.

Elain and Lucien are not together, so comparing how he is with her vs how Az is makes no sense. It makes sense to compare it with how Az is with Mor, the only other woman we know of that he has (had?) a romantic interest in.

I do find that really interesting for the story overall.

If the story were to move forward and no further mention of E/riel was made, Rhys would move forward with the impression that Az finally realized how unhinged his thinking was and Nesta would assume that Az chose to let whatever he was feeling die out. There would be no need for any other character to wonder what happened because they are clueless. The story really doesn't lose any traction if E/riel were to never interact again.

If some in the fandom believe his centuries long love for Mor was easily forgotten in favor of Elain, never needing to be addressed in the book aside from Cassian saying it was like Az had finally given up, than it should not be difficult to also imagine that a year long interest in Elain (where it's up for debate whether he actually had romantic feelings or simply feelings of lust) can be just as easily dismissed.

And I agree. Lucien and Elain and Az and Elain have had completely different setups, completely different opportunities to interact, completely different baggage (which is to say Elucien has a lot of baggage between them while E/riel doesn't have the same problems to overcome) so there are going to be differences. And problems to overcome isn't a bad thing in an SJM novel, it's kind of what she does. And while there are some things we can compare, there are also nuances that we can't forget while doing so.

[alltheworldsinmyhead]

ON FEYSAND’S PLOTLINE IN ACOSF

              !!!!MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE ACOSF!!!!

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Let’s be honest for a while, okay?

ACOCF had potential to be SJM’s best book, if not for any other reason then because of the sheer idea of it. Coming-of-age, healing story of the most complex and polarizing character she has ever created set in the time of peace, away from the familiar setting (according to the later changed concept which still remains in the snippet at the end of ACOFAS), development of her arguably most feisty and angsty love story... It could be her absolute trumph. Even with the change to stick to Velaris instead of exploring the Illyrian culture of the Mountains and with the added conflict of the Mortal Queens and Koshei, it still could work quite well. 

It didn’t. For many, many reasons, but the most important one, in my opinion, being the feysand pregnancy plot. 

Nothing about this plotline made sense. Not a single thing. From start to finish, it was an absolute disaster from the character-writing POV, from the narration POV, from every single context of it. It broke the rules of real-life logic, it broke the rules of this fantasy world setting and it completely exposed that Rhysand, while not a bad guy, is a pretty terrible partner, even worse ruler and an absolutely terrible contender for the High King title. 

Let’s break this whole mess down (and expect this post to be mammoth-sized. it’s not my fault, though, write to SJM if you have any complains):

1) Feyre, 21, decides to get pregnant, even though less than a year earlier, she expresses the delight with not being forced to bear children to her new mate and told him herself she wants to wait a while and enjoy her life with him. Feyre decides she wants a baby though and Rhysand goes along with it, even though he is aware how young Feyre is and how hard her life has been up until this point. He wants a baby too much to have an honest discussion with Feyre about it, to stop and wonder what is the reason for her sudden change of heart, to reassure her that they have a lot of time ahead of them and don’t need to rush. No. She mades a sudden decision to have a baby after A YEAR OF MARRIAGE and not much more of being turned fae, JUST AFTER having her whole world put upside down, having received a completely new title and responsibilities, surviving the wat and being mated. Great. 

2) Feyre decides to get pregnant and Rhys goes along with it less than a year after the end of the bloody war. It is politically a delicate time, everyone is still not sure how the balance will shift, some countries don;t want to sign the peace treaty, etc. There are a lot of enemies and a lot of turmoil remaining. But sure. Let’s have a baby. Perfect time to add yet another target, another weakness that can be use by the Mortal Queens, Beron or whatever else with malicious intent towards the Night Court. 

2) Feyre gets pregnant after approximately a year of trying. I know healthy people of reproductive age for whom it takes ages more than this. Fae’s pregnancies are rare af and precious and happen once in a blue moon, but ofc SJM broke the world’s rules for her darling Feyre. And again, for Kallas and Vivianne who are also expecting the baby, even though it has been a maximum of 3 years since they’ve mated. 3 years is also not a particularly long time to try to have a baby for those who have issues with their reproductive systems like Fae women. Thank you, next. 

3) Rhys has unprotected sex with Feyre in her Illyrian form when she conceives, even though he knows full well having a winged baby would kill her. He does it anyway, for shits and giggles apparently. They probably have sex in the sky above Velaris, for all we know. 

4) The baby has wings. Now, the whole explanation with Illyrian wings being bony (bc they resemble bat wings) and Seraphin ones being more flexible (bc they resemble bird ones) is so insanely stupid that it takes around 3 seconds to wikipedia this shit and find out it’s exactly the opposite. But okay, the baby has wings and Feyre will die while giving birth, along with the baby. Madja forbids Feyre from turning into an Illyrian to carry the pregnancy because it MIGHT hurt the baby. Now, remember, Feyre conceived while in Illyrian form and then turned into High Fae. The baby survived it just fine. The baby MIGHT be hurt by Feyre turning .... but it will FOR SURE die if she stays High Fae and Feyre will too. Idk about you, but I would take the risk of MIGHT instead of FOR SURE. Especially when she is already in labour and dying. Cauldron or Nesta or idk who alters Feyre’s pelvis after the baby is cut out of her for no apparent reason but to allow feysand to make exactly the same mistakes later on. How convinient. And Nesta also alters her own pelvis bc god forbid she won’t be able give Cassian babies like the little useful mate she is now. She should’ve probably done it with Elain too, just in case she decides to fuck Az in the future, because fuck consequences and fuck the stakes in the story that make the readers actually CARE about characters bc they know the author may actually kill them and not save their life every fucking time.  

5) I don’t even want to comment on the fact Rhys hid the true danger of this pregnancy for Feyre and their family went along with it. It is absolutely disgusting. And Nesta telling her and that being condemned as the act of the ultimate cruelty which is a final straw to break her self-loathing back.... is abhorrent. It made my sick, actually, phisically sick. There is no justification for it. No at all. And the fact that they did not even consider abortion sends a message that I really don’t want to think too much about it. Feyre was 2 months along when they learned the baby is winged. 2 months. 8 weeks. It wasn’t a baby yet, let’s be honest. They could’ve at least discussed it. She - oh my god, I cannot believe SJM wrote it this way, I’m gonna be sick. 

6) For the entirety of Feyre’s pregnancy, they have no plan to really help her. Labour plan? Haven’t heard if it.  They have money and power and access to the healers of the whole land. And did not figure out how to stop her from bleeding out after a fucking C-section. THIS WORLD HAS MAGIC AND THEY COULDN’T STOP HER FROM BLEEDING OUT AFTER A FUCKING C-SECTION. Didn’t even ask Thesan, the High Lord of Healing, to be present. Cassian had guts hanging out of his stomach and survived. Az was fucking slashed apart in Hybern and survived. But yeah, Feyre was on a brink of death after a C-section. Great, Sarah. Keep it up. Let’s force the thought into young girls’ heads that labour is the most lethal thing ever, why not. 

7) Also, for the entirety of Feyre’s pregnancy, Rhys keeps quiet about this idiotic bargain. He, as far as we know, doesn’t make any plans for the moment when him and Feyre and possibly their baby are dead. If they died and baby survived.. who would take care of it? Does Rhys have a conversation with his family about it? NAH. Doesn’t write any sort of plan how to keep the Court going, doesn’t inform even the closest of his co-workers how they should proceed to act after he’s gone and his and Feyre’s power go to god-knows-who. Their deaths would mean a sure chaos for the weakend and fragile Prythian and the Night Court especially and yet nor Rhys nor Feyre make any sort of preparations for it. Rhys doesn’t tell his brothers or Mor or HIS SECOND IN COMMAND they will all soon have to somehow manage without him. He was about to just leave them to their own devices and told them in the last. possible. moment. 

And this man - this man is, according to Amren, the best candidate to handle the whole country? To unite it? This fool who makes idiotic bargains, who thinks first about his cock and his own selfish desires and considers his subjects and his responsibilities as a High Lord last and least important of all? Who has so much trust in his wife, in his High Lady, the mother of his son that he doesn’t tell her she will almost surely die on a birthing bed because it MAY UPSET HER? 

This plotline was the straw that broke my back. ACOTAR, at it’s heart has always been a ya fantasy with added ‘spice’ and I was willing to bend my critical-thinking skills in many cases and forget and forgive many smaller idiotic issues in this series. But this? It is not idiotic. It is massive and stupid to the point when it becomes insulting to the reader. It was a plot straight out of a bad fanfic, not something that should be in a published book written by someone who writes for a living. You could even argue that Twilight has handled this toxic trope better.  I have wasted my money on this book and thinking about it will always be painful for me. So yeah.

ACOSF could be great. Ended up quite pathetic. 

[algumaideia]

It'll never not be funny to me that in ACOMAF Feyre is like “the girl who wanted to be coddled and protected died UTM, and I emerged, a strong independent woman who don’t need no man” and simultaneously is like “Tamlin didn’t protect meeeeeeeeeee 😭😭😭 My death is all his fault—even though Tamlin sent me away because he knew he couldn’t keep me safe and even though Lucien and Rhysand both said he couldn’t protect me—he still didn’t care about meeeeeeeeeee he’s so evil” and it’s hilarious.

Hi nonnie!

This is pretty funny. And I think it happens for two reasons:

1. The constant retcon and the fact SJM constantly ignores what she've written.

2. This quote is not there to show Feyre growth as a character but to compare Rhys and Tamlin. That's why she continues to think how Tamlin did nothing but Rhys is soooo better.

So, what I'm gonna say from now problaby has nothing to do if what you asked, but those are the thoughts I had about the quote you sent.

Feyre says she doesn't need to be protected anymore bc unlike Tamlin who put a magical shield around the house and didn't let her train, Rhys put a magic shield around her and sent her to a suicide misson when she was bad bc of the trauma and depression. Clearly Rhys is the one who loves and values her life the most, besides what says I respect you more than sending you to die? She also spent a lot of time doing nothing. going to dinners and just existing. And then she trained combat for 2 or 3 months, therefore she is clearly a capable warrior. Those guys that have been training for centuries do not stand a chance. And how can we forget how she didn't train her powers but was capable to use them when the plot needed without even understanding them?? She doesn't need protection.

This phrase is also a lie bc everyone needs to be proteced from the Inner Circle.

About the cuddling part, I don't remember any cuddling in the books??? Just sex. If there is no cuddling and this is comparison between Tamlin and Rhys I think it is talking about how in the begining of MAF Feyre and Tamlin were having sex instead of communicating (But can Feyre communicate with anyone??). And then there is also Rhys saying how he missed having sex with Feyre but most of all missed talking to her and just enjoying her company. Wow, Rhys is such a good partner.

The thing is that Rhys and Feyre have no meaninful conversation through the books. Whenever they're talking about something "deep" it was just infodumping. When Rhys was feeling bad about the Tarquin situation, instead of trying to talk to him, Feyre transformed that in a conversation about them enjoying how sex they were(or something like that, I don't know how to explain it). Then whenever they are alone they are having sex, wanting to have sex, almost having sex, thinking about sex. In acofas Rhys doesn't miss talking to Feyre, he misses having sex with her, in their final scene they do not talk about having a child and what that means, they just have sex.

There is no cuddling. And maybe that is because I'm ace, but I think that they cuddling would've been more intimate than they having sex. Because it would have been they just enjoying their presence, just enjoying being next to each other. It would say they don't need to have sex to them like to be with each other, but that's not what I got from their relationship in the books.

Best regards,

Me.

[juusworld5728]

Lets talk about Azriel’s shadows...

I think that a lot of people seem to forget what Azriel’s shadows actually represent and what different reaction from them actually mean.

Lets start at the very beginning to his childhood... For the first 11 years of his life, Azriel lived in a cell with no windows or light. He was allowed to come out only for an hour a day, and to see his mother for one hour every week. There are many different ways that one can argue how Azriel came to acquire his shadowsinging abilities or whether it was something genetic (either way, its very rare). Rhysand did mention that he might’ve learned to speak to his shadows in the cell that he was kept in. Either way, his shadows are not something of his past that he necessarily wants to remember. Whether he’s appreciative of those shadows now does not reflect the fact that they were born out of fear and loneliness.

In terms of personality, it’s very important to note how he reacts to things and different people. The way that I see it, he uses his shadows as a defense mechanism. Whenever he’s in an uncomfortable situation, he tends to hide in a corner and his shadows surround him to block from sight. However, when he’s in a good situation or surrounded by certain people, they seem to go away. A lot of people see that as a bad thing, but his shadows are not only supposed to represent his powers, but also his very traumatic past. Soooo you might ask, what exactly do the shadowsinger’s shadows represent?

Well, here is my take. Those shadows in terms that are not power-based, represent that very same cell that he was locked in for the first 11 years of his life. I’m not talking about Nuala and Cerridwen here. I’m talking about his defense mechanism shadows. This wonderful male was trapped without social contact, friends, or anyone to rely on. So yeah, he will be introvert. He has a family, but that doesn't stop him from the fact that his social skills will not be the best in comparison. His shadows represent his loneliness that he feels he deserves and craves when he feels cornered. For the first 11 years of his life, that was ALL HE KNEW. When his shadows “brighten” or are nowhere to be seen, I can imagine that as being the hour he had out of his cell every day. That feeling of relief and freedom. Yes, he needs to learn to accept himself more and who he has become. However, that can be done in the sense that his shadows do not have to be around him ALL THE TIME.

Now, in terms of relationships: 

Mor: His first love. At the young age of around 19. Only 8 years after he’s been let out into society and learned his way through. Does he even know how to handle love?? Probably not. He was born a bastard and probably saw his mother being treated like shit by his father and stepmother. So I doubt love is something he believes in at this point. However, he does fall in love with her. His reaction to that? What he knows best. Avoidance. That dark cell still very present in his mind. That feeling of being very aware of how broken you are but don’t know how to fix it. He does not want to put that burden on Mor. Everything that happens between Cassian and Mor probably makes him feel even worse. Throughout the years though, he can’t help but feel happy just to be around her and in her presence (hence why his shadows disappear). It can be argued that he's known that she hasn't been interested for a while. Maybe what he truly craved wasn't the actual love that he wanted from Mor, but the feeling of love that came from her that made his shadows go away. He craved it and wanted to be around her for that feeling.

Elain: The first time that Azriel meets Elain is in the human lands. She asks him if he can truly fly. He blushes and gets flustered, and why? Do you think that maybe a lot of people haven't bothered to see him in a certain light to ask those type of questions? I mean sure he has his family, but this human girl that is supposedly terrified of him because he’s fae, asks him such a simple and light-hearted question... Slowly but surely, in ACOWAR he beings to get more comfortable with her. She’s broken but at the same time, holding on. He takes notice of a certain light that she radiates as well as her seer powers a little bit later. The first time they’re brought over to the House of Wind, she calls his scars beautiful. The importance of this scene is very overlooked. She called the thing that makes him the most insecure, induces the most amount of fear, and creates his hatred... beautiful. This woman that barely knows him has already accepted every part of him. He further loves to glance out at the garden (a place of happiness that reminds him of Elain) and loves to look at that hidden light in her eyes that makes his shadows either brighten or disappear. It’s very similar to the feeling with Morrigan, but more direct and has incentive. Now, lets talk about truth-teller (the knife that always strikes true). That is one part of himself that he has never shared with ANYONE. Why did he give her truth-teller? Because Elain has already accepted every part of him. Truth-teller is an extension to himself in a sense. Something that belongs wholly to him and makes him feel safe. He trusts Elain enough to give her a part of himself. A very vulnerable moment never seen before by Azriel. In ACOFAS, When Azriel asks about Lucien, he truly does not want to spy on him. It could be for privacy reasons because of Elain but also because he’s afraid of what he’ll see from him in terms of Elain. His siphons gutter and he stutters over his words. Now, winter solstice was a very light-hearted moment but very important as well. As we can tell, Elain is the perfect gift-giver. She gives Azriel a potion for his headaches which is perfect and very hilarious since he laughs (he’s never laughed before in Feyre’s presence). It’s very telling to Elain’s personality as being a very attentive person which amounts to her really caring about Azriel and what’s going on with him. He tends to be pretty hidden and keeps a poker face most of the time, so for her to notice the little things like that is very important. I rest my case..... for now.

Gwyn: I honestly cannot say much about this ship. What I can say are from pages I have been sent and trends I have been seeing through Azriel’s personality. It seems to me like Azriel is the least tense around people he considers his friends and brothers. Even though he's usually pretty serious anyways, the bat boys seem really comfortable with each other. When Mor was around (especially in ACOMAF), he would get worried. However, when she wasn't paying to him, his shadows would disappear (similar things happened with Elain). It seems to me like Gwyn has an outwardly fun personality and Azriel has no problem with that because he is not worried about anything happening. The most I’ve seen from the books between them is simple banter that included the rest of the friend group. When either of them talk, what I’ve seen from Azriel is amusement. That amusement results in Azriel’s shadows dancing around HIMSELF. Not anyone else. No, the shadows did not dance around Gwyn or any other person. I currently see this as a friendship and would need more build-up for me to even ship it. It seems like Azriel seems fine acting like this with people he is not worried about catching feelings with.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[icedflames]

Can you possibly lay out the reasons why Lucien isn’t a viable option for Elain based on the text? I feel like there are some people that just don’t understand. I’m not trying to be mean, I’m asking because I know you’ll answer respectfully.

Hmm, I don’t think Lucien and Elain would be a bad couple... But I agree, I just don’t think it’s a viable option at this point. 

I think there’s really two reasons: (1) the way Elain and Lucien have been written up until this point and (2) the timing and structure of the last two books.

Elain and Lucien’s Relationship

Lucien is part of Elain’s trauma.

From the shadows near a side door, two figures emerged. I began shaking my head as if I could unsee it as Lucien and Tamlin stepped into the light. (ACOMAF, Chp. 63)

While Lucien does not anticipate that the sisters would be kidnapped, he still participated in Elain’s trauma and Elain is highly aware of that. 

But Elain blinked slowly. “You were in Hybern.” 

“Yes.” It was all he could say. 

“You betrayed us.” (ACOWAR, Chp. 24)

Back to the cauldron scene...

Elain’s foot hit the water, and she screamed—screamed in terror that hit me so deep I began sobbing. “Please,” I said to none of them. (ACOMAF, Chp. 65)

&

And Elain, as if she’d been thrown by a wave, washed onto the stones facedown. Her legs were so pale—so delicate. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen them bare. (ACOMAF, Chp. 65)

&

Elain was still shivering on the wet stones, her nightgown shoved up to her thighs, her small breasts fully visible beneath the soaked fabric. Guards snickered. (ACOMAF, Chp. 65)

Elain is the first to go into the Cauldron. Nobody knew if she would live. She’s kicking the cauldron, screaming, and it’s awful all around. She’s laid bare, completely stripping her of her own modesty. Her own sister can’t remember the last time she had seen her sister’s bare legs. The guards are laughing at her nudity. It’s so humiliating and traumatizing. 

Not only that, but Elain is unwillingly stripped of humanity.

Then Lucien comes into the picture. 

As Lucien took off his jacket, kneeling before Elain. She cringed away from the coat, from him. (ACOMAF, Chp. 65)

&

Lucien’s hands slackened at his sides. His voice broke as he whispered to Elain, “You’re my mate.” (ACOMAF, Chp. 65)

Lucien does not have ill intent, but he laid a claim on her. Not only is Elain not human now, but now she has a mate. A stranger she has never met is now bonded to her forever. 

She has been stripped of her choice to stay human, her choice to choose who she wants to be with.

Lucien’s involvement in that trauma makes it very difficult for the two of them to overcome that. Possible, but difficult. I believe that if SJM wanted to go that route, it would have been sweet and believable.. But then we get the rest of ACOWAR, ACOFAS, and ACOSF...

In ACOWAR, Elain and Lucien have very little progression in their relationship. 

Lucien could not figure out what was wrong with Elain. 

He weighed my tone, and crossed his arms. “Let me do something. About Elain. I heard—from my room. Everything that happened just now. It wouldn’t hurt to have a healer look her over. Externally and internally.”

I was tired enough that I could barely summon the breath to ask, “Do you think the Cauldron made her insane?”

“I think she went through something terrible,” Lucien countered carefully. “And it wouldn’t hurt to have your best healer do a thorough examination.” (ACOWAR, Chp. 27)

Elain was... not herself after the Cauldron. She was withdrawn and depressed. Saying nonsensical things. 

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 Chp. 28)

&

“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 Chp. 32)

This scene is telling. Majda says, if anybody can sense something is amiss, it’s a mate. Yet Lucien is not the one who makes the seer revelation - it’s Azriel. 

Lucien and Elain have never really... fit. It feels forced and there is a clear lack of progression:

Lucien just stared and stared at my sister, as if he’d never seen her before. (ACOWAR, Chp. 33)

She had chosen him. Elain had been … thrown at him. (ACOWAR, Chp. 24)

Lucien shrugged. “First—here. To help. Then …” Another glance at Elain. “Who knows?” I nudged Elain, who blinked at me, then blurted, “You could come to Velaris.” (ACOWAR Chp. 79)

Elain, at least, would be too polite to send Lucien away when he wanted to help. She was too polite to send him away on a normal day. She just ignored him or barely spoke to him until he got the hint and left. As far as I knew, he hadn’t come within touching distance since the aftermath of that final battle. (ACOFAS Chp. 5)

How Lucien withstood it, I didn’t know. Not that he’d shown any interest in bridging that gap between them. (ACOFAS, Chp. 5)

“But remember that they were engaged. Give her time to accept it.” “To accept a life shackled to me?” My nostrils flared. “That’s not what I meant.” “She wants nothing to do with me.” (ACOFAS, Chp. 18)

“I don’t think she’ll tolerate two minutes alone with me, so forget about two weeks.” His jaw worked as he studied the fire. (ACOFAS, Chp. 18)

“He brought you a present.” Those doe-brown eyes turned toward me. Sharper than I’d ever seen them. “And that entitles him to my time, my affections?”

“No.” I blinked. “But he is a good male.” Despite our harsh words. Despite this Band of Exiles bullshit. “He cares for you.” “He doesn’t know me.” “You don’t give him the chance to even try to do so.” Her mouth tightened, the only sign of anger in her graceful countenance. “I don’t want a mate. I don’t want a male.” (ACOFAS, Chp. 18)

I handed Elain the small box with her name on it. Her smile faded as she opened it. “Enchanted gloves,” she read from the card. “That won’t tear or become too sweaty while gardening.” She set aside the box without looking at it for longer than a moment.” (ACOFAS, Chp. 21)

And then we get into ACOSF where:

“I am not always in this city to see my mate.” The last two words dripped with discomfort. (ACOSF, Chp. 41)

Her brown eyes were wary. Usually, that look was reserved for Lucien. (ACOSF, Chp. 58)

Elain, the wretch, had taken the seat between Feyre and Varian, about as far from Lucien as she could get. Azriel remained in the doorway. (ACOSF, Chp. 58)

Cassian’s heart strained at the pain etching deep into Lucien’s face as he tried to hide his disappointment and longing. Elain only shrank further into herself, no trace of that newfound boldness to be seen. (ACOSF, Chp. 58)

I really believe... That if Elain and Lucien were going to happen, we would have had some positive progression by this point in the series. Which leads me to my next point...

Elain’s Book is Next

Please see my post on that here! @psychee92 also wrote a great post on that here.

Because Elain’s book is next, this really leaves us with two options for Elain:

Elain accepts the bond

Elain rejects the bond

Elain’s bond is a central issue for her. It makes her uncomfortable and it’s a part of her trauma. Her book will involve a plotline surrounding it. Whether she accepts the bond or not. Whether she chooses Lucien or Azriel. The mating bond is important for Elain’s storyline.

Currently, Elain and Lucien cannot stand to be in the same room as each other. Elain shrinks away from him. I really think that if SJM wanted to go with Elain and Lucien as endgame, we would have some hint that there may be something there. 

If anything, Elain and Lucien are further apart than ever before, despite the bond tying them together. With Elain’s book being next, it’s difficult to picture a satisfying romantic arc between the two of them. It’s going to take a lot to bridge the gap between them and 800 pages is, quite frankly, not enough (especially because SJM has moved into adult book territory and wants to get on with the smut). 

And that’s why I think Elain and Lucien are not a viable option at this point in the series. 

[vidalinav]

Empathetic Nesta

I have a headcanon/theory/analysis that Nesta is the most empathetic, genuine, and loving one of the IC/not IC and that that part of her starts really being more accessible when she’s able to let her guard down. She’s the one who feels so much, who’s gone through so much, and wasn’t able to process that really well and then wasn’t really validated on behalf of her own trauma.

I kind of envision her being better at helping people through more difficult times, because well look she gave Elain what she needed during her own hard time, a safe space to heal unencumbered by other people’s wants, wishes, or ideals that again is not attributed to her fairly as being generally kind and loving. 

Part of the reason, I feel, that this “sisterhood” with Emerie and Gwyn feels so genuine, is because all of them are very open about having an ugly past, but there is no judgement, no ill will. It’s a safe place for them, but she was the one who started this. She was the one who offered this to the priestesses. She was the one who sent those spices to Emerie, because “Emerie needs good spices” but also because she understood that training might be helpful for her too, because they were similar in some sense. An unspoken understanding. I feel even Cassian has a more genuine personality around Nesta than he does even with the IC. He was allowed to step out of that role of being just the general, just the comic relief. He was able to be vulnerable. I’d say that even him saying horrible things to Nesta, is a way in which he is allowed to be an ugly, flawed person, because you notice he doesn’t do that with anyone else. Also, we have to keep in mind that Cassian in most all books, has been described as having that irritating smirk, not being serious, but in this book he can’t hide his emotions. They’re plastered on his face for everyone to see, which I think is very interesting that it’s attributed to Cassian always being genuine and an open book, when in ACOMAF-ACOFAS, he seemed to be not that open. He swiped that hand away after that intimate moment, he ran to his room after the whole gift thing, he wouldn’t talk about Nesta and no one talked to him about her, he tended to dismiss Feyre when she brought her up, but we also get these instances where Cassian is the comic relief. He’s the dumb one, the troublemaker, the unserious one. He plays that role for Mor and Azriel and the other characters assign that title to him. Not to go off on a different tangent, but this is why I also think the IC not validating Nesta’s trauma is very IC thing to do, since they don’t seem to do it for themselves, and to really fit into this group, you’d need to sweep yourself under a rug and I think that’s why it seemed to be almost an outright attack when Nesta wouldn’t do this. We see now many more instances where going against the group exhibits the most dramatic response (i.e. telling Feyre about the pregnancy, Azriel and his want of Elain, Cassian being concerned about looking for the Dread Trove). But regardless, I think Cassian is a allowed to be a more natural person around Nesta than he is around the IC or about the IC. 

And then we also get this constant reference to Nesta just not judging people right off the bat. Amren likes her for this. Azriel treats her normally because of this. Both of which are said to be such an unnatural response, because everyone but Nesta will judge them immediately. Then we have that solstice scene, where she goes to Azriel who’s sitting out in the corner, because he’s alone and they, both, even from the beginning have this sort of understanding about each other and what they hide/don’t hide. Even when she thinks of Mor, she’s not harsh like Mor is, she calls her a hypocrite and moves on. When Mor literally is super verbally aggressive in ACOWAR twice, she just goes on her way. Like Cassian, I think it’s fascinating that everyone has a problem with Nesta, and that we see some of the ugliest qualities of these characters because of Nesta, because they don’t chill for five seconds as part of the group dynamic. Individually, we did see Mor not be so bad. So that’s also interesting too. It might be the whole, rather than its parts. 

Let’s not forget that Nesta is inherently good, no matter how “angry” she is and she’s very protective of the people she loves. She was the one who fought for those humans to the Queens and then to the High Lords, wanted to protect their right to live, who acknowledged those children in ACOWAR who’d died, and those who could die. She defended Gwyn from Merrill, then Gwyn and Emerie during the Rite. Elain all of her life, as evidenced by the memory of the dance, Nesta’s favoritism, and then Elain’s change to being fae arc. She defended Feyre to Tamlin, both in ACOWAR and in ACOSF, then you know sacrificed her powers, but she also literally tried to cross the wall to get Feyre back and then when Feyre came back she told her be free, because you have that opportunity and we won’t hold you back. She helped in that war that she was scared to be in. She defended Cassian, protected Cassian on numerous occasions pre ACOSF and then now in ACOSF. This is why I think that no matter how much some of the characters want to be mad at Nesta, it almost seems foolish to be. Almost ignorant. Very selfish to be quite honest as if their inconvenience is bigger than her pain. 

But, because all of this, is centered around Nesta, I have a feeling that this genuineness is more because of Nesta than it is because of other people towards Nesta. I think that her ability to create an environment that is judgement free, coupled with this idea that she feels so much, alongside the fact that she is very protective of people and the idea of goodwill, would make her more empathetic to people and their pain. I would love if post-healing arc that’s where Nesta’s personality is taken. I don’t want to her fully assimilate to the IC or maybe she should just to shake things up--maybe she should because she could probably be more helpful than the IC’s quack tendencies of telling each other to quietly persist in their own trauma without acknowledging the other person’s pain, though this would be MESSY. I just do feel that Nesta could end up being the most loving, and I would like to see more of her just being caring in a carefree way. Love freely given, I mean. Because I hated that this book almost made love seem to have to be deserved or earned. (an analysis for another time I suppose)

[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.

[nikethestatue]

Why do people say Nesta is abusive/toxic to Elain, or Elain is to Nesta?

Because people in this fandom like to throw terms like 'toxic' a little too often.

The two sisters had a co-dependency and the relationship wasn't exactly healthy. Both did good and bad things--neither one is worse or better than the other.

Nesta probably stifled and overprotected Elain, which wasn't great for either one, and Elain allowed it to happen.

Elain did not voice her objections to Nesta and Nesta's treatment of Feyre and their idiot father.

Yet it was Elain who got engaged to Graysen, and not Nesta--though she said much about she was 'willing' to 'whore' and 'marry' Tomas for Elain--but didn't actually do any of those thing. (Not that I'd want her to whore or marry anyone unsavoury, but the bottom line is, yes, she said it, but it was actually Elain, who acted.) Elain was fully prepared to bring Nesta along, despite the turbulent relationship that Nesta and Graysen had.

Nesta was the one who made the decision to cut out Elain and Feyre from her life. And we know that throughout ACOFAS, both Feyre and Elain tried and tried and tried to get through to Nesta. Nesta demonstratively bypassed Elain in the market and did not acknowledge her.

Let's not forget that it was Elain who saved Nesta's, and Cassian's lives. It was the 'feeble', 'coddled' Elain who stepped out of the shadows and thrust a dagger into someone's throat, with the words 'Don't you touch my sister!'

How convenient that it is always 'forgotten' how Elain saved Nesta's life.

Those two sisters have gone through a lot of bad and good times, together and apart. I think it's beneficial for them to build their own lives and have their own friends and lovers, and not be so dependent on each other.

Just like in real life, we all usually find our own people and create our own lives, I think it's good for the Archeron sisters as well. But those who claim that they all have 'newfound families' and all that, I say, BULLSHIT. They might not be sitting on top of each other, but they all care for each other and love one another. And this pitting them against each other is so freakin stupid my eyes bleed every time I read some post about it. Feyre is the mama bear, Nesta is the tigress, and Elain is the fawn--they all stand up for each other, and at one point, each one saved another one's life. Nesta saved Feyre's, Elain saved Nesta's and Feyre saved the other twos'. That's it. That's how it is.

[onceupona-chaos]

Elain, healing arc and Night Court

In this post, I'll discuss a few points: Elain's healing arc, why it's most likely she's staying in the NC and why being an Archeron matters.

DISCLAIMER: My focus here is Elain, but I'll approach her discomfort towards the mating bond. As usual, English is not my first language, sorry for any mistakes.

Be kind!!

SJM already told us that she planted seeds in ACOFAS for Nessian's book and "the next after that". With that in mind, in this post I'll approach how SJM, in both ACOFAS and ACOSF, set up Elain's story in terms of healing.

I'm doing this because every single time I see someone arguing this or that character is going to be main character because they need a healing arc as if Elain doesn't, my reaction is the same as Amren:

“Elain has her own problems to focus on.”

“Such as?”

Amren just gave me a Look. I ignored it.

Just to be clear: Elain needs one, too. So that argument applies to her as well.

So let's go back to ACOFAS.

“And you?” I made myself say. “Are you—all right?” Elain looked over a shoulder at me as we entered the foyer, then turned left— to the dining room. In the sitting room across the way, all conversation halted at the smell of food. “Why wouldn’t I be all right?” she asked, a smile lighting up her face. I'd seen those smiles before. On my own damn face. (ACOFAS)

Elain doesn't answer directly Feyre's question, she never said she was ok.

And what kind of smiles is Feyre taking about?

“Fine,” I breathed. I made myself look him in the eye, made myself smile. “

I was introduced and passed around, and my face hurt from the smile I kept plastered there day and night.

Looking at that box, at what was inside, felt like examining a crow-picked corpse. I tried to smile. Tried to will some brightness to my eyes.

These lines are from the beginning of ACOMAF, when Feyre was in an abusive relationship and suffering from what had happened UTM. When Feyre was in her worst and forced herself to smile, to look happy, when actually she was dying on the inside. Feyre took months, months to give a real smile.

That's what makes Starfall scene so special: it's when she genuinely smiled for the first time since UTM.

“Smile again,” he whispered.

I hadn’t smiled for him. Ever. Or laughed. Under the Mountain, I had never grinned, never chuckled. And afterward …

[...]

So I smiled at him, broad and without restraint.

“You’re exquisite,” he breathed.

Feyre knows what is to pretend. That is why Feyre acknowledges on her POV that Elain needs help. SJM made the comparison between smiles back in ACOFAS to show us that Elain is suffering in her own way.

Elain can be all sweet smiles, but I wonder how many of those are genuine, real.

"Like the rest of us, Elain’s recovery was ongoing."

"Most days, she was lucid—perhaps quiet and prone to melancholy, but aware."

"Quiet and prone to melancholy, but aware." Elain being aware and lucid means she's not trapped in her own visions as she once was. However, she's still melancholic (according to the dictionary, it means passive sadness).

She's struggling, but keeping it to herself.

I've said a million times and I will say it again: she is not fine and we don't know the first thing about what's going on in her head.

To me, the fact that Nesta kept saying Elain had become "the adjusted one" and how she only needed time to adjust only serves to show us that Elain's deal with her inner issues quietly.

For whatever reason that I'm not going to pretend I understand, Elain prefers to keep it to herself, but that doesn't mean she's not suffering.

SJM not only already told us that Elain's recovery is "ongoing", but she also emphasized Elain's trauma in ACOSF repeatedly.

But Elain said, “I went into the Cauldron, too, you know. And it captured me. And yet somehow all you think of is what my trauma did to you.”

“Elain was right. We’ve become so focused on how her trauma impacted us that we forget she was the one who experienced it.”

(...) he understood that Elain had spoken true, claiming the trauma of that memory.

Elain had been stolen. By Hybern. By the Cauldron, which had seen Nesta watching it and watched her in turn.

Do you not remember the Cauldron kidnapping you, bringing you into the heart of Hybern’s camp?

The Cauldron looked at her. And then took Elain.

“Bad things happened the last time. The Cauldron looked at me. And took Elain."

"I know. I helped rescue Elain, after all.” Az hadn’t so much as hesitated before going into the heart of Hybern’s war-camp.

He’d gone with Feyre into the heart of Hybern’s camp to save Elain—he knew the risk

These are just a few examples from the book, we still have Feysand's bonus chapter, too.

Do you really think SJM didn't want us to remember what Elain had been through? She is reminding us of what happened to Elain because this will be important.

Besides her trauma, the mating bond is another reason why she's struggle and ACOSF made that pretty clear (This is no way an insult to Lucien, the poor thing is clearly uncomfortable as well, but it's clear Elain doesn't want the bond and that's hurting her):

There had been some tightness in Elain’s face as she’d said it. Normally when she made such excuses, Lucien was around, but the male remained in the human lands with Jurian and Vassa.

Her brown eyes were wary. Usually, that look was reserved for Lucien.

So Elain is dealing with her trauma and with the mating bond.

Given that, I do not believe for a second Elain is leaving the NC, not only because she already said she's a part of that court, but also because of this:

"Unusual, yes, for Elain to be so vocal, but she’d been improving.

Elain is not completely healed, so her trauma and the mating bond need to be address in her own book.

However, she's not regressing either, she's is slowly improving and that's clear when we compare with the beggining of ACOWAR.

It's so different from this scene, where she loses all progress she'd made:

Elain only shrank further into herself, no trace of that newfound boldness to be seen.

Also, we already saw a glimpse of her "different side", of her developments and she didn't need to leave the NC.

With SJM, characters heal surrounding by people who love them and working on their struggles with their love interest ("healing in each others arms"). It's just the formula.

And honestly do you really think SJM is separating the sisters after this:

She found Feyre and Elain waiting halfway down the hill, Nyx now dozing peacefully in Elain’s arms. Her sisters beamed, beckoning her to join. And Nesta smiled back, her steps light as she hurried down the hill to meet them.

ACOSF IS NESSIAN STORY, BUT SJM STILL FINISHED THE BOOK WITH THE ARCHERON SISTERS.

She could've finished with Nessian and it would make absolutely sense, but she didn't. She chose to finish that way, because ACOTAR is about the sisters.

Just look at the books:

ACOTAR: Feyre Archeron going to the Fae world

ACOMAF: Feyre Archeron healing/ dealing with being turned Fae

ACOWAR: Feyre helping Nesta and Elain Archeron to deal with being turned Fae + war/("Nesta needs help" at the end)

ACOFAS: repercussions of the war/ Tie up Feyre's story/ Nesta and Elain's traumas and how both are dealing with

ACOSF: Nesta healing/ dealing with her trauma/ ("Elain needs help" at a bonus chapter)

I don't understand how there are people claiming that Elain being an Archeron means nothing. What books are you reading????

Of course your favorite characters can be side characters, but we can't misread their position in the novels. At the end of the day, the ACOTAR books are still about this:

All three sisters blessed by fate and gifted with powers to match your own.

All three sisters were now High Fae with considerable powers.

The Cauldron chose three sisters.

Three sisters turned Fae.

Feyre needed help. Nesta needed help. And now...

"Let's focus on helping one sister before we start on the other."

SJM's telling us is time to help the other sister.