Tricky to Write

After seeing at least 10 separate fan arts of Azriel with Rhys’s sister (who is drawn as a full grown adult despite her canonically being a teenager or younger at the time of her death) and seeing multiple theories about Azriel’s mate being Rhys’s sister, it is undeniable that antis will ship anyone with Azriel but Elain.

Rhys’s sister is an approximately eight years younger than Rhys. Azriel is two years older than Rhys. Meaning Azriel is 10 years older than Rhys’s sister, who was a teenager (if we are being generous) when she died.

So the head canon of said antis is that a 26 year old man gets with a 16 year old girl, and that is not in human years. That is fae equivalent years, so it would be nothing like Rhys and Feyre. It would be a full grown adult being in a relationship with a minor. How romantic!

I can only assume that this once again stems from needing to latch onto a self insert character who we quite literally know nothing about. But if you have to ship Rhys’s sister with someone (and you definitely do not have to because she is a minor) there is another character in the story who is also younger than Rhys … Tamlin.

If you feel so compelled to create a head canon backstory and ship for Rhys’s sister, Tamlin was also a teenager at the time she died. Again many Elriels have pointed out that Rhys’s sister was likely too young, but since that isn’t stopping the self inserts, Tamlin is far more age appropriate and antis are obsessed with Tamlin having his redemption arc, so there you go. But no, put the young girl with her older brother’s even older friend (who is in love with Mor at this point in the story) At least with Tamlin you get a relationship between a two High Fae from rival courts that ended tragically.

Still beyond all these theories is a poor girl who was brutally slaughtered at a young age. Only for her now to be propped up as a love interest for someone a decade older than her all so that Azriel can be attached to someone other than Elain.

Elain Archeron may be a fictional character but you ma’am are not. You are a real woman celebrating and getting off on the torment and subservience of other women all to please a man. Hiding behind the guise of “fiction” knowing damn well that the content we consume absolutely acts as a reflection of ourselves and our beliefs is willfully ignorant.

You’re wrong for wishing the worst on a female with the sole justification being you find them “boring”.

The womb theory, the Elain needs to be humbled, the Elain is a bitch and should give Lucien a chance, the Elain can’t handle Azriel, the “insert male character” deserves better, the Gwyn is prettier than Elain, the Gwyn will be the new Archeron sister, the Gwyn will discover Elain is evil and beat her up. All those theories and wet dreams you have do nothing but uplift “fictional” males at the expense if “fictional” women and you find nothing wrong with that. That says more about your character than it says about Elain.

Whether the person you degrade is real or not does not change the fact that you genuinely believe that way of thinking is ok. If bullying and harassing women is what you get off on then keep that shit to yourself. That misogynistic crap has no place in a story about female empowerment.

In the Elriel community we do not put the feelings or desires of a male over a female’s. And you don’t see us pitting women against each other to act out some sick pick me fantasy.

Like Nesta, Elain is likely to possess powers beyond what we originally saw from their characters. In addition to her death powers, Nesta has been shown to make and unmake both objects and people. As a made being herself this is a secondary power she develops mainly under deep emotional stress or when her power is at its fullest.

There is a significant chance Elain will possess something similar but unlike Nesta’s connection to objects or people, I think Elain’s powers might be bigger. My head cannon is that Elain can make or unmake realities. Elain’s ability to see the future is at least implied to be fixed events. Her knowing the ravens were coming was stated as a fact not an option. Her powers extend to the past and present as well, and with the Harp now in play Elain could theoretically have an effect on previous events.

Much like Nesta’s power, I suspect Elain’s can only be activated under the right conditions, and we have seen before her alter reality. In one chapter she tells Cassian what will kill him, by the end of the book as he lays there dying of that exact wound, Elain intervenes. In a way maybe she unmade that timeline where he dies. I also think there is a possibility she knew the Cauldron would target Nesta in that moment too. The wording Elain uses when she kills the King of Hybern is oddly specific: “Don’t you touch my sister!” And what happens next? The Cauldron chooses not to kill Nesta because of Elain. Maybe her statement was not for the King of Hybern alone but a demand she also made to the Cauldron. Again unmaking a reality where Nesta dies by the Cauldron.

I also suspect that the “half step” Elain takes toward Lucien is not some grand romantic gesture, but an understanding that Lucien going to the continent would permanently alter their future. And by leaving he would guarantee that their mate bond will never come to be. He will meet someone else and she will discover the love of her life (or at the very least have the freedom to control her future). And Elain CHOOSES to let it him go, not altering that reality.

I think this opens some interesting opportunities for her future. Imagine what Elain could do with the Harp. It would be so fascinating if Elain had the chance to go back in time. If she was placed back in their mansion the day Feyre came to ask for help. What if Elain was given the opportunity to unmake her current reality. To have the life she always wanted, always dreamed of as a Human if she chose this time not to help Feyre. But then she looks her sister and moments later sees Azriel and decides all the pain and struggle she went through was worth it to be with her family again and to be with Azriel. What if we got Elain watching her past, staring at Azriel and saying “I do want a mate. I do want a male.”

Since the mating bond is an element of fate I think this would open the opportunity for her to once again unmake reality, this time with the mating bond. Unmaking her bond with Lucien or even better going back in time to totally undo the existence of the bond.

This could mean a lot of things. My interpretation is that in order to better set up Elain's story, the layout and presentation of information had to be switched around. I have seen several Elriel's theorize ACOTAR 6 will feature Azriel more prevalently and Elain will take the lead in ACOTAR 7. I partially agree with this. I think Azriel will play a larger role at the start, hence SJM's surprise. BUT I still stand firm this is Elain's book, Elain is the sun that Azriel orbits around, even if we are in Azriel's POV, Elain will be at the center of the story and everything he does.

The Crescent City crossover left a huge Elain sized hole in the narrative, and a lot of Azriel's behaviors in the crossover can be tied back to Elain. For example: bringing Bryce to the townhouse, looking at Truth Teller when Nesta spoke about killing Hybern, getting snippy when asked about his relationship status, paying special attention to Nesta's feelings about becoming Fae. That being said, Azriel's presence in Crescent City makes him a resource for information, plot points or concepts that might need to be introduced (CC3 isn’t required reading for ACOTAR 6/7 so any relevant information will need to be reintroduced). We also have not gotten info on what Azriel's personal arc will be, compared to what we got with Cassian in ACOFAS. So I could see SJM using the beginning of ACOTAR 6 to establish what we can expect to see from Azriel and connecting the crossover information.

The anticipation for Elain's story is immensely high, and I do think the Seer element of her character, combined with the people pleasing tendencies and her trauma around her humanity and her relationships will make Elain's POV to put it lightly - intense. For the sake of efficiency I could see SJM favoring Azriel's POV at the start, so that when we dive into Elain we can focus just on her, rather than all the world building. Still though this is Elain's story and I fully expect her POV to be equal to Azriel's in value, I just suspect we will have to wait several chapters before we get to Elain To be fair, Nesta wasn't the first POV in her book either so this isn't a huge leap.

The charged glance between Azriel and Elain? The descriptor is right there, openly stating that this action has underlying implications to it. Azriel looking at someone who laughed loudly? No emotion or motivation even suggested. Why? Because it is a face value interaction, there is no emotion to it.

Azriel gives Elain Truth Teller? Certain readers are insisting this means nothing because Cassian offered Elain a weapon first. But Feyre, the narrator, spends an entire page talking about how unique and special the interaction between Elain and Azriel is.

Azriel rescues Elain? Antis whine that it is expected of him, it is just his job. Then Feyre details Azriel's rage filled eyes. We get Elain whispering "you came for me" to Azriel. Elain kicks the hounds off of Azriel. Then Azriel cradles Elain to his chest, and later she kisses his cheek. THAT IS NOT HIS JOB AND THIS IS NOT NORMAL! It's one of the most romantically coded rescue scenes we have seen in this series.

This insistence on saying all your opinions and interpretations are valid while SO many of them directly contradict cannon is ridiculous. "Well I read it differently!" - no you didn't read it at all. You glazed over it and ignored it because it doesn't help your head cannon.

And that goes hand in hand with these misinterpretations where people are claiming "we don't know what Elain wants" ... girl yes we do! She said it out loud! "I don't want a mate. I don't want a male" - "you betrayed us" - specifically speaking about Lucien. Even if you ignore her actions, those are her exact words!

But my personal favorite is, "we don't know anything about Elain!" Don't we though? Her sisters speak at length about her kindness, about her ability to see the good in the world. Feyre points out that Elain can be brave, she warned Feyre about Tamlin's attack in ACOMAF, she tried to kick off the cauldron before she went in, she smashed her feet into a vicious hounds to protect Azriel, and she stabbed the King of Hybern in the throat to save Nesta. Not only that, but we see her standing up for herself more and more. Elain is deeply thoughtful, as we can see in all the gifts she gives others. Elain has even picked up a job helping the Fae in Velaris with their gardens. And in the handful of times we get Elain speaking on page she has dropped more one liner jokes than half the Inner Circle. She is kind, thoughtful and funny. She is working through trauma of identity and loss, indicated by both Amren and Feyre. But sure “she doesn’t have a personality” SJM apparently just randomly writes important characters with no personality. If you think we don't know enough about Elain, then you haven't been paying attention. Or more likely, you don't like soft, kind characters so you just don't care.

So Azriel finds Bryce and takes her straight to Elain, then Az and Elain speak before he brings Bryce into the sitting room. Everyone else arrived later, meaning none of them were present at the house. But Elain was. Of all places, why take Bryce there? The House of Wind certainly seems like a better option in terms of security (it is a sentient house). But Azriel CHOSE to go to Elain. What are these two up to?

Did Elain see Bryce coming in Prythian? Did she tell Azriel? Post ACOSF are Elain and Azriel already working together?

I need answers!! Give us the dang book already!!

“I hate Azriel and Elain!” … “Elain is too boring for Azriel!” … “Elriel is too predictable!” … “3 brothers 3 sisters is cliche!” … “Azriel needs to be with a warrior!” “Elain can’t handle Azriel’s darkness!”

“Elain is toxic for wanting Azriel!” … “Elain NEEDS to give Lucien a chance!” … “Elain is such a bitch for not wanting Lucien!”

“I don’t hate Elain! I actually like her but she needs to be with Lucien!” … “I love Elain and she NEEDS to be with Lucien even if she doesn’t want to!” … “Elain/Lucien shippers actually like Elain the most!”

“Elain is just playing hard to get! It’s enemies to lovers obviously!” … “I want what’s best for Elain! Which is of course my favorite character, Lucien!” … “SJM is a fated mates author!”

“Elain said to Azriel, perhaps the only two civilized ones here…”

“Elain would like it, too. Though she’d probably cling to Azriel…”

“… at his blue Siphon or at his scarred skin beneath as she breathed, ‘Beautiful.’

“…rage glazing that stare, ‘I’m getting her back.’”

“…Azriel still cradling Elain to his chest.”

“… the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death”

“Actually Elain should be with Tamlin cause flowers!” … “Elain should leave the Night Court! She doesn’t belong there, because she looks bad in black!” … “Elain should be with Lucien so she can do wifely things for him!”

‘You came for me.’ 

“Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt of the blade.”

“Azriel and Elain remained in the sitting room, my sister showing him the plans she’d sketched to expand the garden in the back of the town house”

Second if Gwyn so much as thought about harming Elain (for any reason) the entirety of the Inner Circle INCLUDING Nesta would intervene. Nesta has literally threatened to kill people for Elain, you think she’ll just be fine with her new friend harming her sister? Azriel was ready to go after Nesta for hurting Elain’s feelings (after he met his so called mate btw) He would absolutely take out anyone who threatened Elain. Rhys, Feyre, Mor, Amren, Cassian not one of them would be ok with Elain getting harmed in any capacity. Go reread the books.

Here we have the cover of the last ACOTAR book:

Then the promo for ACOTen / the Pilates Event

And now ACOTAR 7 (same color as the font on ACOTAR 6)

An orange cover …. Marketing in the form of an orange to pink gradient … a placement cover of light orange to pink/purple/light blue gradient. The corner of ACOTAR 7 is literally the same shade as ACOTen color scheme.

Elain and Lucien are mates? The first set of mates we learn about are not a love match. We are told time and time again that the mate bond can pick poorly. So unless the characters are also in love, that bond is nothing more than the cauldron's opinion.

Elain's half step towards Lucien? The motivation is left explicitly vague, with Feyre (the narrator) unsure of Elain's feelings in that moment. Mind you this is immediately after we find out Elain is a Seer. It is just as likely that she knew of or had seen something that related to Lucien/Vassa that she considered sharing and chose not to. Add to this Elain immediately turning around and walking away, which instantly undermines the action entirely.

Elain asking Lucien if he is ok after the war? Elain's entire character has been described as caring, and polite. Lucien asked her how she was, and she responded in a completely normal way. Replace Lucien with Mor or Rhys or literally anyone else and you would have had the exact same reaction from Elain. Everything between Elain and Lucien can be boiled down to Elain not being an asshole.

Azriel's reaction to Gwyn? Almost all of Azriel's association with Gwyn is the fact that they train together and her voice/breath drew his attention. That is literally it. A private dagger lesson? You realize that was at Gwyn's request right? If Emrie or any of the other Priestesses had asked for that training he would have done it for them too.

Hearing Gwyn's laugh, his shadows reacting to her breath and singing, him magically finding himself doing something kind for her at the exact time she is singing for evening mass? All explained by Lightsinger magic and mirrored in interactions Gwyn has had with Nesta. Two extremely plausible reasons, that is all you need.

For Elain and Azriel? Azriel carrying Elain, offering to show her the garden, taking her to the garden, always being the one to winnow her. Never showing Nesta any of that same care? Oh he is just being polite. It is his job to be nice to her.

Azriel being the one to discover Elain is a Seer after Madja said a mate would know what was wrong with Elain? Well that is just Azriel looking for a weapon for the Night Court, that is why he did that. Ignoring the fact that Azriel could have absolutely kept that information to himself and only shared it with Rhys rather than personally telling Elain. Didn't they hide information about Nesta's power from her? Shouldn't the Spymaster have done the same when it came to Elain if his only concern was her value as a weapon?

Azriel offering to help Elain, spending time listening to her talk about her garden, Elain buying Azriel a gift, Azriel being defensive of Elain again (just Elain never Nesta), Azriel rescuing Elain from certain death, Azriel giving Elain his most prized possession? Oh yeah he is just being polite again. Well all of these moments are stated as being exclusive and special to Azriel and Elain, so how is that just polite? They are like siblings! It's not romantic.

Azriel and Elain buying each other thoughtful gifts (again) and wanting to bone each other in graphic detail? Well that is just lust! In fact it is disgusting and has no place in a romance novel!

So it is just platonic until it is not, then it is just lust. It isn't anything special, until it is, then it is because they are like siblings. Effort isn't important, until it is stated as being so and then it is "just his job."

Got it, Elriel are platonic, siblings, that want to fuck because it is Azriel's job to be nice to Elain and also Elain is a just a Night Court weapon who buys Azriel beautiful gifts and they are both gross for being attracted to each other in a romance novel. Yep that's definitely what the author wanted you to take away from this series.

1) Elain didn't grow vegetables she only grew flowers:

- ACOTAR page 11 from Feyre's perspective "It still hadn't stopped me from buying her seeds for the flower garden."

- ACOTAR page 258 Feyre speaking about Elain "- about her plans to start another garden by the greenhouse, perhaps a vegetable garden, if she could learn enough about it over the next few months."

Literally book 1 we are told Feyre gifted Elain flower seeds, and Elain did not know how to grow a vegetable garden. Interestingly though, once Elain has the means she does plan to learn that valuable skill. She no longer needs to grow vegetables but she chooses to try and learn. That is growth.

2) Elain and Nesta are equally bad in ACOTAR.

- ACOTAR page 11 from Feyre's perspective "- it wasn't that Elain was cruel. She wasn't like Nesta-"

From the first chapter of the series we are told the sisters motivations. We can see that Elain is being set up as the Anastasia to Feyre's Cinderella, while Nesta is alluded to being the Driscilla. It's not even moderately subtle, one is stated as naive while the other is cruel. You can dislike that take but it is Feyre's perspective and this is her part of the story.

- ACOTAR page 11 from Feyre's perspective "And it hadn't stopped her from buying me three small tins of paint -"

The way so many readers glaze over the paints is honestly diabolical. Ignoring the fact that these paints are brought up multiple times throughout the series it is a clear indication in the first chapter of ACOTAR that Elain cared about Feyre. Elain did something for Feyre. Maybe not in the way she needed to, but she did more for Feyre than their father or Nesta did as far as we know.

3) Elain doesn’t do anything

- ACOTAR page 253 from Feyre's perspective "-Elain said, hooking elbows with me. "Come inside. We'll show you the house!"

- ACOTAR page 256 from Feyre's perspective "You should come with me ... but you and I ... Oh, we'd have fun wouldn't we?!"

- ACOTAR page 258 from Feyre's perspective "Instead I spent most of my time with Elain in her little garden."

- ACOTAR page 258 Feyre speaking about Elain "- a woman I found myself proud to know, to call sister."

- ACOTAR page 260 Feyre speaking about Elain "- Elain had said she missed it - a shelter from a world that possessed so little good, but she tried to find it anyway" ... "She had looked at that cottage with hope ... And I knew which one of us had been stronger."

- ACOTAR page 272 from Feyre's perspective "Elain, to my surprise, had a horse, a satchel of food, and supplies ready -" ... She nodded, tears in her eyes. "I would have liked to see the continent with you Feyre."

As far as supporting characters go, Elain is the only Archeron who really treats Feyre like family. Elain welcomed Feyre home, and when the glamor wore off helped Feyre leave. She displays joy at Ferye's return and gladly spends time with her sister. Elain even makes plans to travel with Feyre. Elain is the symbol of hope and light that Feyre fights to protect. Being kind and caring and inspiring is not nothing.

I know other Elriels have made posts on this so please link those in the comments or reposts, this is just my short list of overlapping themes I found:

- First off the Snow Queen begins with the description “A fairytale in seven stories” now doesn’t that sound familiar.

- Roses: flowers in general are a huge part of the Snow Queen but the story literally begins with the main characters (Gerta and Kai) enjoying roses. It’s giving staying up till 3:00am to talk about gardening plans.

- Kai is impacted by magic (mirror shards to his eyes and heart) and that ends up freezing him. Azriel has had frozen and freezing imagery associated with him for some time now.

- Speaking of the mirror, the shards impact Kai’s eyes and heart, influencing what he sees and how he feels. This is interesting because when Azriel leaves the necklace for Gwyn he specifically states that “he could see it, for whatever reason” before burying the “spark in his chest”. It’s almost like the Light Singers influence is taking the place of the mirror shards in this case. Influencing what Azriel sees and feels.

- Gerta, the main girl character, is not a fighter. She achieves everything through her persistence and her kindness. Basically everyone she meets falls in love with her. Isn’t Elain said to be “able to get anyone to do anything with a few smiles”.

- Tears are a common thematic element of the Snow Queen and Elain has been consistently associated with tears as a form of emotional expression.

- An elderly woman states that Gerta’s innocence, pure heart and kindness are greater than any magic that could be given to her. Maybe like Elain’s ability to look at the world with hope being stated as a quiet strength?

- Song plays a significant role in the beginning and ending to this fairytale. Kai and Gerta sing to the flowers they grow, then when Gerta saves Kai she sings that same song to him which helps unfreeze his heart.

- There are plenty more but the last I will highlight is Gerta prays for help and golden angels come down to defend her. In ACOSF Elain is the only one praying when Feyre is dying. And what is more Elain prays to the Mother. Who then shows up to save some of Nesta’s power? The Mother … was she summoned by prayer?

So considering this, what is to come? Well there are several plot points in this story that could be used or could be left out, but I strongly suspect Azriel will be captured and Elain will go to save him. And I think it is very likely she will learn or sing a song that breaks through Azriel’s entrapment, or potentially use the harps magic.

Poetry? ✔️

Song reference? ✔️

Beautiful? ✔️

And I am supposed to think Sing Me is literally about anyone else?

Not for nothing the BC also ensured that both Elain and Azriel have now been victimized by sirens calls. A struggle only they share (lest we forget Gwyn was exposed to pieces of the Cauldron in Sangravah - that is why Hybern attacked after all). Perhaps that is what the book of breathing really hints at, how specific connections can be either uplifting or damaging.

Love me Feyre being loved by Tamlin vs Feyre being loved by Rhys.

Touch me Nesta being touched by Cassian vs Nesta being touched by random males.

Sing Me Elain being called to by Azriel vs lured by the Cauldron (this could work for Azriel too, Elain calling to him vs the song of a LightSinger)