Azriel's Elain

They’re anti-Elain.

(And anti-Rhysand and anti-Feyre, but those go hand in hand)

…

Lowkey convinced that all El*ciens (not so secretly) hate Elain and want her to be with L*cien as some weird sort of punishment. And of course so they can read L*cien smut and bby Lulu figuring out his daddy issues.

"Azriel only wants a mate!"

Nvm he never stated that...Lucien is only interested in Elain because she is his mate. Do you think if she wasn't he would be interested? He gets her gifts that she doesn't like because he doesn't understand her, they have stilted conversation that is forced, Lucien snarls at another man going with Elain and he doesn't even know her at that point, Lucien doesn't figure out Elain is a Seer but one look into his mind and he's thinking about fucking her and he hasn't even had a decent conversation with her at that point because she is catatonic.

All of this is instinctive (which Azriel does not display to another red head...) ofc so I don't blame Lucien but people who spout off that Lucien understands Elain best and knows Elain best and Azriel just wants to fuck and have a mate need to do a reread me thinks and stop relying on fanon/fanfics.

Lucien does not know Elain. He knows things about her that have been told to him.

If anyone just wanted Elain because "they just want a mate" it would be Lucien but then again he doesn't even really want Elain tbh, fully convinced he only tries because he feels like he has to because mates are such a big thing in his culture--and honestly it's the bare minimum at that.

… “The Cauldron chose three sisters. Tell me how it's possible that my two brothers are with two of those sisters, yet the third was given to another."

- Azriel in the ACOSF bonus chapter from his POV

Azriel is tortured by these questions.

This is not a male who is casually interested in Elain. This is not a male who’s in love with someone else.

This is a male who is haunted by his emotions for Elain. This is a male whose every waking moment is consumed by her. This is a male irrevocably in love. 🌸🗡️

This is M/F romance written for women. Elain will choose, but Az has already chosen.

Meanwhile in canon text…

Acowar- they light up at her smile

Elain mused, at last answering my question from moments ago as her attention drifted to the windows facing the sunny street. That smile grew, bright enough that it lit up even Azriel’s shadows across the room.

Acosf-want to attack nesta for insulting her personality

Nesta saw the blow land, like a physical impact, in Elain’s face, her posture. No one spoke, though shadows gathered in the corners of the room, like snakes preparing to strike.

Azriels Bonus chapter- help him present her gift

But tonight, here in the dark and quiet, with no one to see…He pulled the small velvet box from the shadows around him. Opened it for her.

“BUT BUT BUT THEY SKITTER FROM HER!!!”

Meanwhile in canon text-

Acomaf- his shadows skitter from his own breath

It was an effort not to stare at Azriel as he watched them head up the steep street, arm in arm and bickering with every step. The shadows gathered around his shoulders, like they were indeed whispering to him, shielding him, perhaps. His broad chest expanded with a deep breath that sent them skittering, and then he set into an easy, graceful stroll after them. If Azriel was going with them, then any excuse I might make not to—

“YEAH WELL THEY VANISH AROUND HER TOO!!!”

Meanwhile in canon text

Acomaf - They tell Az to relax and his shadows vanish around the IC.

“Relax, Az—no fighting tonight. We promised Rhys.” The lurking shadows vanished entirely as Azriel’s head dipped a bit—“

Acomaf again- Azriels shadows gone while he’s with Feyre

“No shadows trailed us, as if he’d left them in Velaris.”

Acomaf yet again-Azriels shadows gone while he’s with the IC

It’s almost like he knows she has a mate and couldn’t have possibly hoped she would feel the same, until she gave him an offer and permission to kiss her.

It’s almost like their romance continuing would be FORBIDDEN????

“If you like Elain why wouldn’t you want her story to be the last one?” No bitch! We’re looking at a 4 year dry spell between these books, why the fuck would I want to wait longer to read Elain’s story??

Also there is no character as central to the plot as Elain right now, especially no male character. This is probably a controversial statement but neither remaining MMC has enough individual storyline or ties to the overarching plot to have their own book at this point. Azriel needs ties to Elain to continue to be an important part of this story. Same goes for Lucien, though he also needs his ties to Vassa. Take Elain out of the picture and Azriel has no more relevance to the plot than Cassian or Amren. Without Elain, Lucien probably would have already defected to the Band of Exiles and would no longer be a part of our main cast.

There is no “Tower of Dawn” book to come. And if there was it wouldn’t be Azriel’s book. Tower of Dawn worked to bring another army to Aelin’s cause and bring back a critical character in Yrene. Neither of those plots could be attributed to Azriel right now (or his supposed side kick Gwyn 😂). Azriel has his spy network but beyond that has not made deep connections outside of the Night Court. You know who has … Mor. And if we are to see a critical character brought back into the main story, the most logical choice is Vassa. And ALL of this is much better suited to a novella than a full book in the series.

Sorry folks, Azriel isn’t going to be saving Illyria in a stand alone novel. The priestesses are not going to form their own inexperienced army to help Azriel either. Lucien isn’t going to get his own book about his daddy issues and becoming a High Lords son (which he already is and has been for hundreds of years). We’re not going to read 500+ pages about Lucien dragging his uninterested mate to social events. Those examples are both basic ass fan fiction concepts with no substance or depth.

The next book will be about Elain facing her fears, fighting for her agency, embracing her powers, and finding out who she really is. Kochei will finally be addressed, the third mountain will be addressed, the cauldron will likely be addressed, and the unrequited mating bond will be addressed. That is a fucking book. That is character development and plot thickening.

So can we just stop with the bullshit and delusions already. Both bonus chapters for ACOSF focused on Elain. Elain’s character has the most loose ends to be tied up. Elain is connected to any and all remaining plot points, especially as she continues to develop her power. The author called her a walking spoiler for a reason.