Sometimes Here

Mind you, I still very much like all the characters and ships, I am *not* saying this for shipping reasons.

The issue here isn’t about what Azriel’s taste in music is in canon, or what Lucien’s might be (we don’t know cause we’ve never gotten his opinion on that front written into the books, so anything like that would be headcanons). The issue is the use of the word “culture,” which is not a neutral term when being applied to POC.

Yes, Lucien and Azriel are PoC in *our* world, but as far as the ACOTAR world they have highly different associations.

Lucien still is perceived as high fae, and a high fae who has largely interacted with / has been influenced thus far by courts that are more aligned with white western culture (Spring & Autumn, and I’m not including Day in this explanation because even though he has lineage there, he has not been *influenced* by the court). To clarify: I am not calling Lucien white, I’m saying he is influenced by the cultures of courts which SJM has chosen to position closer to white-western cultures. An apt comparison is like someone in the diaspora who grew up in a western country compared to someone back home: while there is still an element of race involved in their interactions, the person from the diaspora is usually seen by white-presenting people as more “acceptable” by western culture compared to the person brought up back home since their presentation is more conformist to western culture.

Azriel, is lesser fae, Illyrian. The word “lesser” in and of itself already has a negative connotation, but add do that the fact that Feyre has called Illyrians “barbaric” while also shifting into their wings, the fact that Illyrians are shown to be living in tents as highly militarized, misogynistic society…I blame SJM’s own biases towards POC for how Illyria is written, but it does not change the fact that this presentation of culture is aligned with the western view of POC cultures, and how white people have chosen to view and represent POC through words for decades. (If anyone’s read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the way SJM writes Illyrians is not dissimilar from the way Conrad wrote the Congolese people, and his words back then has shaped the way white people talk about POC, the same way SJM’s writing has shaped the way romantasy authors believe its acceptable to write POC.)

Saying “Azriel is less cultured” or would “prefer the music of the pleasure halls,” despite the fact that he is a singer and has been shown to have interest in music whereas Lucien has not been shown that only serves to reinforce in fandom the negative associations and portrayals of POC in canon through micro-aggressive language, rather than question those associations established and further implied by the author’s problematic writing.

By the way, yes I am aware that Azriel listened to Bryce’s music that is nothing like a symphony in CC3, but that does not mean he is less likely to enjoy symphonic music compared to Lucien, who has not been shown to take an interest in music. There’s tons of classics musicians who listen to rock and pop and club music, and that doesn’t make them less “cultured” for enjoying one over the both or enjoying both.

The issue with that post was not the Elucien headcanon, I even kk d of understand where OP might have been coming from. The issue lies in the combination of bringing in Azriel + using the word “culture” in a way that reaffirms the implication of those more aligned with POV culture to be “lesser” or incapable of appreciating said “culture(s)”.

No, really. Kingdom of Ash takes one hell of a lot from Lord of the Rings, like entire beats with the Crochan Witches's answering the call, the Siege of Orynth, the battle with the Dam. You can clearly see it shining through and I think structure-wise, the next ACOTAR book will be like that.

More or less like this:

• Koschei = Sauron

• Beron= Saruman

• The Illyrians= The Rohirrim

• The Valkyries + Inner Circle= Aragorn & Co.

• Sam & Frodo = The Band of Exiles

It’s the “he doesn’t even know me” only for Cassian to remark the only thing that brings Elain any life in the Hewn City was her pearl comb only for Lucien (who was not present then) to gift her a pair of beautiful pearl earrings the next Solstice for me.

The first thing I thought about when I saw the four movements was Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, each season in a movements, starting with Spring > Summer > Autumn > Winter.

Helion, Lucien’s father, would have a huge affect on the Autumn court plotline if the parentage came out.

Parts 2 and 3 combined into one book, Summer to Autumn in one book.

Then Koschei, as in inspired by Koschei the Deathless, associated with Winter in the original tale.

You have the three of the four season progression from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Probably means nothing, definitely doesn’t mean anything (this isn’t sarcasm, I really don’t think it means anything), but just wanted to let you know that this is what your post made me think of.

I feel like that one Swifite that analyzed the curl pattern of Taylor’s hair during the 2025 Grammy’s for album hints.

You see I think you might be onto something with this theory. I think SJM probably has found a way to not only incorporate the passage of season, but also the 4 moving parts of a symphony as well (which does explain the music notes on her post.) but the concept of time is also played a lot with in the SJM universe. And both music and the season can mark the passage of time so I want to look deeper into the season part of this posts.

Speaking of, I’m thinking of Illyria and where it would fit into this theory. I theorized before that Book 6 might focus on Illyria cause it just seems the easiest to handle in a >400 page book, and when considering where that left off in ACOSF.

I was thinking a little bit about what the four movements of the symphony would mean generally (different post). I think ultimately we’d get set up for all these plotlines in 6, since the first movement of a symphony is introducing all the main themes and plots. A lot of rising action in 7 (second and third movements). The second movement in a symphony is more emotional and reflective, which makes me think of all the character development that would need to happen to several characters connected with these plotlines (Az and Lucien being major players here). The third movement is generally dance-like, and that makes me think of both war and politics, both dances in their own way. So these plot points and character arcs would line up most for book 7.

With the Illyrian/Valkeryrie plotline there’s also a lot of key things to consider here.

First we have to remember the events of the crossover.The characters included in CC3 were as followed: Nesta, Azriel, Amren, Rhys, and even Cassian shows up for the briefest moment,

Right now Nesta has possession of the Starsword. Azriel has possession of truth teller. And both them were the charactersHOSAB featured the most. I don’t think this was coincidental.

What is also not coincidental was the fact that both Rhys, Gwyn, and Merill had been doing research into the multiverse. And Amren knew about the Dagdlan/Asteri. And Amren was also the one who was in the prison for centuries and the prison is connected to the Dusk Court/Midgard. (Which the Valkeryie are inspired by Norse mythology so the CC universe being called Midgard checks out here.)

We also have to investigate what Vesperus (the trapped Asteri) told us in CC3. I think finding out about the power trapped within the mountains (this may very well be first light) will be a huge plotline too. As well as what Truth Teller actually does because despite being its owner for centuries Azriel didn’t know a lot about it. (And I will admit I have to look through that entire section again to see Al the plot threads interwoven through it but this Asteri does give us a lot of information.)

Not to mention there’s a few questions that I personally have. Which is if Vespures was the only Asteri still trapped inside the ACOTAR universe. And if Asteri are in this universe is there also a potential that Valg are as well? Idk it’s definitely something to look into.

But there’s also two more key players here. Which are Gwyn and Emerie.

Emerie is the first Illyrian female to complete The Rite. She’s also tied to both Illyria and the Valkeryie. There’s an also hints of a potential romance between her and Mor. So Emerie could be a key player here. Because she’s the only person that is connected to both the Valkyrie and Illyria.

With Gwyn, similar to Emerie, she also touched the stone on top of Ramiel and completed The Rite. She also does a lot of research with Merill, which means she knows a lot about the multiverse and with her potential romance arc with Azriel, I can see her be a key player in what weve been given so far.

But there are still some loose ends here when it comes to ACOTAR plotlines. Because we also have to consider what’s going on with The Court of Nightmares as well. We now that Keir and Eris have also been talking and worked out an alliance of sort via Rhys. If I remember corrrectly he told them he would let them that they could sort out the details of that themselves. And when we see Eris in ACOFAS and ACOSF. He is in the CON. So I do wonder how Keir will play into all of this.

We know that plot between him and Mor is still in the air. We know that he wants to get himself and the citizens out of the Court of Nightmares. And we know Eris has offered him something to keep him out of Velaris for the time being. So I do wonder what SJM is doing here. And how this will apply in the upcoming books.

Symphonies are written in four movements! SJM is often inspired by music!!

Here's an explaination of the first movement

1. The First Movement: Sonata-Allegro Form

The first movement of a symphony is usually in sonata-allegro form, a structure that balances both drama and coherence. This form consists of three main sections:

– Exposition: The composer introduces the main themes of the movement. Typically, there are two contrasting themes (or theme groups): the first in the home key (tonic) and the second in a different key (often the dominant or relative major/minor). The exposition usually ends with a closing theme or a codetta.

This would lay out our POVs!

Home Key = Night Court? The story's home so far??

Second Different Key = another court or location?? We have Autumn, Day, Vallahan, freaking Dusk/Prison, soooo many places to hear about!

– Development: The themes introduced in the exposition are explored, expanded, and transformed. This section often involves modulation to different keys, creating a sense of tension and exploration.

Tension and Exploration? Modulation to different keys? Keys = POVs? Big if true...

– Recapitulation: The original themes return, but this time both are in the home key. This section resolves the tension created in the development and brings the movement to a satisfying close. Sometimes, a coda is added to provide a final sense of closure.

Two main POVs come together in the same place (key) to RESOLVE THE TENSION and PROVIDE CLOSURE.

The first thing I thought about when I saw the four movements was Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, each season in a movements, starting with Spring > Summer > Autumn > Winter.

Helion, Lucien’s father, would have a huge affect on the Autumn court plotline if the parentage came out.

Parts 2 and 3 combined into one book, Summer to Autumn in one book.

Then Koschei, as in inspired by Koschei the Deathless, associated with Winter in the original tale.

You have the three of the four season progression from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Probably means nothing, definitely doesn’t mean anything (this isn’t sarcasm, I really don’t think it means anything), but just wanted to let you know that this is what your post made me think of.

I feel like that one Swifite that analyzed the curl pattern of Taylor’s hair during the 2025 Grammy’s for album hints.

You see I think you might be onto something with this theory. I think SJM probably has found a way to not only incorporate the passage of season, but also the 4 moving parts of a symphony as well (which does explain the music notes on her post.) but the concept of time is also played a lot with in the SJM universe. And both music and the season can mark the passage of time so I want to look deeper into the season part of this posts.

Speaking of, I’m thinking of Illyria and where it would fit into this theory. I theorized before that Book 6 might focus on Illyria cause it just seems the easiest to handle in a >400 page book, and when considering where that left off in ACOSF.

I was thinking a little bit about what the four movements of the symphony would mean generally (different post). I think ultimately we’d get set up for all these plotlines in 6, since the first movement of a symphony is introducing all the main themes and plots. A lot of rising action in 7 (second and third movements). The second movement in a symphony is more emotional and reflective, which makes me think of all the character development that would need to happen to several characters connected with these plotlines (Az and Lucien being major players here). The third movement is generally dance-like, and that makes me think of both war and politics, both dances in their own way. So these plot points and character arcs would line up most for book 7.

Only one more week until Elucien week!☀️🌸💕

@cauldronblssd and I are so excited to celebrate Elain and Lucien for @elucienweekofficial that we decided to post this one early!!

Lana did such an incredible job creating this Day Court Elucien for us, she was so wonderful and a pleasure to work with💗

The flowers we chose for this piece are damask rose, saffron, and jasmine. These all grow in the Persian region, and symbolize love and beauty, light and sacrifice, and sensuality and grace, all of which embody Elucien and their story of tension, growth and healing💕

That’s who Gwyn is at her core, compassionate, brave, selfless. Not because it was easy, not because she was unafraid, but because even in unimaginable pain, her instinct was still to protect those children first.