A Court of Thought

Links only seem to work well from a laptop or desktop versus phone.  Also, if the link seems to link you back to the Master List, scroll to the bottom for the actual post.

Includes

Various Posts for the Month of October 2023.docx

An Assortment of Posts Recently Added.docx

Posts from 9-24-23 through 10-1-23.docx

Pro Elain Archeron

Lucien Vanserra (the Man, the Myth, the Legend)

Pro Elucien

Pro Gwynriel

Anti E/riel

Gwyn Theories

ACOTAR 5?

Bonus Chapters

Crossover Posts

Anti Tamlain

Mor Theories

Amren Theory

After five books Nuala and Cerridwen remain largely the same characters they were when we met them.

They're lovely supporting characters, but they still don't have:

individual character arcs,

distinct personal goals,

meaningful internal conflict,

relationships outside their role serving the Night Court,

or much differentiation from one another.

We readers couldn't even tell you which twin is which is which and I don't think that's an accident. SJM writes them intentionally as a unit because that's the role they serve in the story.

Now compare that to Vassa.

Vassa has had significantly less page time, yet SJM has attached her to some of the biggest unresolved plot threads in the series.

She has:

• the curse that still needs to be broken.

• Koschei.

• the human queens.

• the continent.

• the Band of Exiles.

• political significance.

• a future that is still entirely unresolved.

For a character who has appeared so little, that's a remarkable amount of narrative investment.

And Vassa has even been given a potential love interest in Jurian. And while she doesn’t know Elain YET. That’s likely intentional too by SJM.

But their stories are already beginning to overlap.

That feels incredibly "Sarah" to me.

Because when SJM wants us to care about a friendship, she usually writes that friendship from the beginning.

She doesn't just tell us these people are important to each other.

She lets us watch it happen.

Think about the Valkyries.

Nesta didn't meet Gwyn and Emerie off page and suddenly call them sisters.

We watched every training session.

Every awkward interaction.

Every vulnerable conversation.

Every setback.

Every victory.

By the end of ACOSF, they felt like family because We experienced the formation of that family alongside them.

The same thing happens throughout Sarah's books.

We watch Feyre slowly become part of the Inner Circle.

We watch Nesta and Cassian earn each other's trust.

We watch Bryce build her own found family with Hunt, And reconnect with Ithan and Fury, and Ruhn

The emotional payoff exists because Sarah lets readers live through the journey with the characters.

That's also why I don't think proximity alone means much in her books.

People often point out that Elain has lived with the twins for years.

Okay...

Nesta lived around Amren for years too. We were told they were good friends by Feyre in the same way she told us about Elain.

Did they become found family?

No.

If anything, their relationship eventually deteriorated.

Simply sharing space with someone has never been enough in SJM's stories. She consistently distinguishes between acquaintances, allies, coworkers, and the people who become someone's emotional home.

When Sarah wants a friendship to become foundational, she will spend time to devote substantial page time to building it.

That's why I think Vassa is such an interesting character.

Not because she's already Elain's best friend.

She isn't.

But because Sarah has quietly invested far more narrative weight into Vassa than many readers acknowledge.

Meanwhile, after five books, the twins remain exactly what they've always been: excellent supporting characters whose primary purpose is to support the journeys of others.

Could Sarah absolutely expand the twins in a future book?

Of course.

Authors can always choose to deepen supporting characters.

But looking at the patterns across all of SJM's series, she overwhelmingly prefers to let readers Experience her most important friendships on page rather than revealing they already existed.

And if Vassa and Elain are meant to become important to each other, that would fit that pattern perfectly.

We wouldn't be told they became close.

We'd get to watch it happen. From the time they meet, to the awkwardness, to connections, sharing their secrets and ultimately becoming like sisters. There’s a reason SJM has held off those two meeting and I bet it’s because it’s being saved for Elains story.

Yes, Yes, Yes. Yes to all you said. My thoughts are redundant to yours but it's because it's so obvious what Sarah has done (or hasn't done) here. When an author writes a book it is their responsibility to make you invested in characters who are meant to play a bigger role in things, it is not my job to put effort into a character who was clearly written as a plot device for a future fmc. Sarah need someone for Feyre to interact with when she wasn't with Lucien and Tamlin? Cue Alis. Sarah needed someone to pay attention to Nesta while Feyre was off doing High Lady things? "Let's use Amren!" Sarah needed someone to keep Elain busy since she wasn't going to be with the IC when they left the townhouse? "Nuala and Cerridwen could work!" It's kind of like - here me out here - Sarah needed to give the sisters something and someone(s) to tide them over until it was time for their actual journey's to play out on page from their own POVs.

Yes, the twins are Elain's friends but Alis was Feyre's friend, Amren was Nesta's friend. Amren did just as much if not more for Nesta yet she still did not end up being Nesta's "found family" in her book. She's still Nesta's friend of course, we have Nesta acknowledging how much she did for her but that doesn't mean she was there walking beside her as she discovered who she is in this new world. Nesta needed a temporary break from everything that was in her past in order to find who she would be in her future, she needed to discover who she was aware from Feyre, away from Nesta, away from all the expectations those in Feyre's found family placed on her. So why would anyone lose their minds when we feel Sarah is setting Elain up for a similar journey? It is canon that her sisters struggle to see her for who she is. It is canon that Elain might feel she has to act a certain way around them for fear of disappointing them. So it is only logical to assume that Sarah will write Elain breaking free from a past that drags her down, just as she wrote Nesta breaking free from a past that drug her down, and learning who she is away from her sisters and away from the life she's been living the last 2 years which has not resulted in friendships who push her beyond her comfort zone.

Of course she can always care for Nuala and Cerridwen, friendships don't disappear just because we move, but Sarah has not done anything to convince me that they are the friends who will push Elain to become a leading lady, that will push her to do more and not be afraid. Sure, they were there to lend a comforting presence during her low points and of course that means something but there's also a big difference from friends in a fantasy novel whose entire relationship with you revolves around hanging out in the kitchen / helping you dress and the friend that's going to encourage you to train your powers, who will encourage you to face the trauma you've been avoiding (since it's been 2 years and Elain confirms she hasn't fully dealt with it). Elain doesn't need more friends who offer her peace and safety, that's the extent of every relationship in her life right now, she needs someone who lights a fire under her ass. I think SF shows she on her own has that fire sparking to life but SF also shows us that there isn't a single person within the IC (the twins included) who help fan the flames of that fire so she become more, so she can be a power to rival Rhys's and someone who can again change the history of Prythian beyond stabbing the king. Elain has been written by Sarah as someone who is meant for more but Sarah has not written any of the relationships she currently has as the kind that push her to achieve that. Aelin had those people, Ferye had those people, Nesta had those people but Elain? Considering she volunteered to search for the Trove and the only person who argued for being able to handle it was Amren I'd say she's not found the people who will push her outside of her comfort zone. Vassa? She's an ass-kicker in this series. Feyre and Nesta were taken aback by her attitude towards them (probably because her personality is a lot like Feyre and Nesta), she is exactly the kind of character to be a straight shooter with Elain and not try to hold her back or protect her. "Oh you just care about Vassa because she's connected to Lucien!"

Doing nothing helpful for Prythian as a whole. Not engaging with or assisting with anything the IC did. Struggling with her trauma.

So it is quite confusing when I see Elain hasn't been set up enough to play a major part in book 6 especially when we have all this in SF:

“Why?” Elain demanded. “Shall I tend to my little garden forever?” When Nesta flinched, Elain said, “You can’t have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater.”

Elain’s eyes brightened with pain. Something imploded in Nesta’s chest at that expression. She opened her mouth, as if it could somehow be undone. 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 had squared her shoulders and declared that she was a part of this court—and would do whatever was needed. So Elain had let her golden-brown hair down tonight, and pinned it back with twin combs of pearl. He’d never once in the two years he’d known her found Elain to be plain, but wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court … It sucked the life from her.

"Let's help one sister before helping the other." (sounds a lot like Rhys saying "I'd have to find a way to fix that" in reference to Nesta).

She opened her eyes, hurt and confusion warring there before she whispered, “I’m sorry.

Why should Elain need anything more than that when Nesta didn't either? Their trauma on its own was enough to start their journey, a journey the author has been planning for nearly a decade.

By the end of SF the plot is Koschei (and Beron).

Vassa is connected to Koschei.

Near the end of SF Koschei says "Tell my Vassa I'm waiting."

Lucien became friends with Vassa and in SF Sarah made sure to tell readers he had been to Koschei's lake when looking for her. She made sure that it was Lucien (not Az) who was "setting his target" on Koschei across the sea and continent.

Beron has been a cause of Lucien's trauma over centuries.

Sarah wrote Vassa fighting in the war alongside the others.

Sarah wrote Vassa as the one connected to the main villain who many of us feel Elain will play a major role in helping defeat.

Sarah wrote Vassa as being the ones who is helping lead the humans on the slice of land that borders the Spring Court while simultaneously telling us how Elain would love the Spring Court, how the Spring Court had been made for someone like her, how her scent is a "promise of Spring", and how no matter how much she claims to be part of the Night Court it "sucks the life from her."

Sarah wrote Elain as the one having visions of Vassa before anyone ever spoke of her at all.

Yet people are still confused why we think Elain's story will involve her befriending Vassa?

And yeah, of course that ties into Lucien but when you have a Fated Mates author who is leaving obvious clues that the path of two Fated Mates will run parallel to one another in future books, what else are we supposed to think?

And this is an interview where she talks about the secrets she kept before the reveal of Feysand ending up together, how she was so excited to finally gush about her love for Rhys despite others believing Tamlin was going to be Feyre's endgame since at the time he was the "obvious" choice.

I always think back to these two interviews when people say she no longer cares about Lucien, that she never talks about him excitedly in interviews anymore and that because he and Elain were in the background for SF and HOFAS it means they aren't going to be important to the next books.

Then I think how she said just because she kept things a secret - only sharing them with her editor and a couple of critique partners - she still left clues.

Cassian didn’t know why he’d expected an update regarding the High Lord of Spring. Lucien only gave those in private to Rhys.

Lucien stared out the window—as if he could see the lake across a sea and a continent. As if he were setting his target.

Eris’s face filled with cool amusement. “I wanted to feel out Vassa and Jurian.” He didn’t mention his brother, oddly enough.

It wasn’t a guarantee that a High Lord’s firstborn would be his heir. The magic sometimes took a while to decide, and often jumped around the birth order completely. Sometimes it found a cousin instead. Sometimes it abandoned the bloodline entirely. Or chose the heir in that moment of birth, in the echoes of a newborn’s first cries.

“Let’s focus on helping one sister before we start on the other.”

We need the Spring Court’s forces.” “So we’re to hide her pregnancy from him?” “No. But we need to summon Lucien,” Azriel said, just a shade tightly, as if he didn’t like it one bit. “We need to tell him the news, and permanently station him at the Spring Court to contain any damage and to be our eyes and ears.”

But Elain … The Spring Court had been made for someone like her. Too bad her sister refused to see her. Nesta would have told Elain to visit this place.

Helion shuddered, and Nesta threw the cloth over the Mask. As if the cloth somehow blinded it to their presence. “Perhaps an ancestor of mine once used it, and the warning of its cost is imprinted upon my blood.”

Cassian nodded. Rhys as High King: he could think of no other male he’d trust more. No other male who would be a fairer ruler than Rhys. And with Feyre as High Queen … Prythian would be blessed to have such leaders.

And do not forget that Nesta herself—and Elain, with whatever powers she has—is here. Feyre is here. All three sisters blessed by fate and gifted with powers to match your own.

“He’s spent months helping them sort out the politics of who rules Prythian’s slice of the human lands,” Cassian said slowly.

“Easy,” Lucien said. Cassian snarled. “Easy,” Lucien repeated, and flame sizzled in his russet eye. The flame, the surprising dominance within it, hit Cassian like a stone to the head, knocking him from his need to kill and kill and kill whatever might threaten—

“Very well then, Rhysand.” Amren also turned from the desk and the blades Rhys’s magic now sheathed and set upon the surface. “But know that the Cauldron’s benevolence will be extended to you only for so long before it is offered to another.

Her gaze shifted to the carved wooden rose she’d placed upon the mantel, half-hidden in the shadows beside a figurine of a supple-bodied female, her upraised arms clasping a full moon between them. Some sort of primal goddess—perhaps even the Mother herself. Nesta hadn’t let herself dwell on why she’d felt the need to set the rose there. Why she hadn’t just thrown it in a drawer.

Despite the positive imagery we think of when thinking of a "Goddess of Spring" Blodeuwedd is actually a tragic figure because she conspired to betray and kill her husband and was punished for it.

"In Welsh, the word Blodeuwedd also translates to "owl," and in her new form she is eternally shunned by other birds, forced to hide in the dark"

We know Sarah would not want a tragic fate for Elain, she rewrites happy endings for dark and tragic tales, and I think she's shown us that's exactly what she's doing for Elain's character, making sure Elain is not forced to "hide in the dark".

Every curtain shoved back as far as it could go, to let in as much sun as possible. As if any bit of darkness was abhorrent. As if to chase it away.

Seated in a small chair before the sunniest of the windows, her back to us.

Still staring at the window, but she was out of her room.

"What can I get you Elain?" But Elain shook her head once more. "Sunshine."

"What now?" Elain mused, at last answering my question from moments ago as her attention drifted to the windows facing the sunny street.

Her skin had gained color these months - at least, before the cold weather had set in.

Elain politely refused, taking up a spot in one of the wooden chairs set in the bay of windows. Also typical.

so many birds singing and such warm, buttery sunshine. Nesta felt like a storm cloud standing amid it all. But Elain … The Spring Court had been made for someone like her.

But wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court ... It sucked the life from her.

“She will not leave her room. She will not stop crying. She will not eat, or sleep, or drink.”

We're told Elain barely sleeps but..........

“When I sleep,” she murmured, “I can hear your heart beating through the stone.”

until our scents merged, and I was his and he was mine, and we were the beginning and middle and end. We were a song that had been sung from the very first ember of light in the world. - Feysand

For it was music between their souls. Always had been. And his voice was her favorite melody. - Nessian

He still needed it. When they’d finished after that first time, he’d been left reeling, to pull his sanity back together after the joining that had … unleashed him. Broken and remade him. His magic had been a song, and she had been... - Rowealin

Her voice was beautiful. Like a golden song. It stirred his Fae soul, made it perk up. -Ruhn / Lidia

His lightning flowed into her like a river, and he could have sworn he heard a beautiful sort of music between their souls - Quinlar

But she didn't. She definitely kept the possibility on the table with her phrasing but she never came outright and said "Yes, nature did make a mistake because she and Lucien are not going to end up together and Elain is never going to forgiven Lucien for the trauma she feels he caused." She told us Elain places blame of some kind Lucien. She told us Elain is struggling with everything that happened to her. She said that nature sometimes does make a mistake. But she ALSO said sometimes it doesn't - while still under the umbrella of the discussion of whether Elain would reject her bond. In Sarah's books (and many others), the author initially writes her FMC harboring anger, resentment, and unease towards her endgame person. She writes her FMC accusing the MMC of things he's not truly guilty of, she writes the FMC of unfairly lashing out without trying to understand why the MMC did what they did but she also then writes her FMC changing, growing, learning and beginning to view the world in a way that is not just a "me, me, me" mentality. Elain has not yet tried to understand the circumstances that led up to the Hybern scene in ACOMAF. We don't know if she is aware of how Rhys presented himself to the world, the lies he told to keep Velaris safe, the mask he wore that caused others to fear him and believe him capable of horrible things - things Tamlin and Lucien thought were happening to Feyre. When she learns of all of that we have no idea what she'll think then, whether she would still harbor the same anger and resentment towards Lucien or whether that anger will shift to those in the IC because had they just been HONEST, what happened to she and Nesta would not have happened. If what e/riels are saying is true as confirmed by Sarah, that the Elucien bond is a mistake of nature, then why not just come out and say "yes" when directly asked if she'd reject her bond? Sarah could have easily, FINALLY cleared up any and all confusion about these endgame pairings but she didn't. There is no quote that exists where Sarah said, without room for debate, Elain and Lucien are not ending up together.

There are two things to take away from this.

1) This was 6 years ago and that means they should hopefully have held any translators who were involved accountable - 6 years ago. When some are bringing this back up now because they're upset about the recent IG post it's a fools errand because these two things are likely not connected in any way. What happened in 2020 is probably not what's happening now since again, Sarah and her team already addressed that Galera would be held accountable and most businesses try to learn from their mistakes (otherwise they would not remain in business or be getting copies of her books to translate).

2) If Galera is guilty of falsifying any current information we know Sarah will address it just as she did in 2020. Harassing Galera in their comments over a canon mated pair when the author has not issued any statements saying she and her team will be addressing it? Not a good look for e/riels. Of course their post isn't proof of anything but the comments section proves how some lose their minds the second Elain and Lucien - canon mates - are acknowledged by anyone.

It could mean Gwynriel of course. Or it could have been a nod to her use of "Four Movements" for the breakdown of the book, of which many orchestras use including the one that accompanies The Firebird and involved the evil sorcerer Koschei. Or it could be a nod to the fact that she is a Fated Mates author.

I think all of the above are plausible and I think that should make it difficult for any of us to speak with any sort of certainty (unless someone here has insider info they've kept a lock on thus far).

Ultimately I don't think Sarah spoiled a specific endgame couple with that emoji. I keep saying this but if she's making it so obvious with these clues and what she says in interviews then why doesn't she come out and say it directly to us? I feel like her words and emojis are being carefully chosen to send us all into a tizzy, where our wild guesses keep her name and her series high up in viral marketing numbers until they are ready to release information on the next book.

I have no idea why we don't have a title BUT I do think it's entirely possible for all 3 books have the same title.