@oristian just received an anon that read the following:
The difference between Elriels, Eluciens, and Gwynriels is that Elriels actually like the characters. We like canon Azriel and Elain and donโt need to assign them other charactersโ characteristics or rewrite them. We appreciate the way they have been presented, flaws and all. We are invested in their story thanks to canon, not despite it.
Canon Elain does not wear Illyrian leathers.
Canon Elain does not wear a necklace that she returned to Az therefore unless it's fanart depicting Solstice night and only Solstice night, it's not canon.
Canon Elain does not enjoy wielding a dagger.
Canon Elain does not have tattoos.
Canon Az does not train Elain or take her on spy missions. He didn't even want her searching for the Trove. Canon Az got reprimanded by Amren for not believing in Elain.
Canon Az's shadows do not play with Elain, by his own admission in HIS POV they tend to disappear around her.
Canon Az has not thought of a future with Elain beyond his sexual fantasies.
Canon Elain is NOT "Velaris's Princess" which is a wild thing to say since Velaris already has a QUEEN in Feyre.
Canon Elain would not be fine with Az's torture of defenseless people.
Canon Elain likes sunshine and flowers and is bothered by cruelty.
Canon Elain, despite her proclamation that she's part of the NC and would do what is necessary has the life sucked out of her while wearing NC black.
Canon Elain is different from her sisters, as stated in the books and interviews from the author herself.
Canon Elain is NOT described as being Illyrian at heart the way Nesta was.
Canon Elain, despite Nesta's belief that Elain is doing just fine with her friend and hobbies (something Nesta can only assume from afar considering canon Nesta avoided Elain for a year), confirmed that she has trauma that nobody seems to acknowledge.
Canon Az is connected to the Illyrians and the Valkyrie.
Canon Elain is connected to Vassa and Koschei through her visions.
Canon Az is not connected to either.
Canon Az did not acknowledge the trauma he heard Elain speak of.
Canon Elain did not acknowledge Az's struggles though she's apparently well aware of how Az was bothered by the scent of her bond.
Canon Az avoided Elain for nearly a year though she never asked him to stay away, though he knew she was fighting with Nesta, though he knew she was mourning the loss of her father.
Canon Az showed yearning for Mor while Elain sat in the room with him.
Canon Az felt something spark in his chest at the thought of another female's happiness.
Canon Az never gave his dagger to another female outside of Elain yet made sure Bryce knew what NESTA did with it during the war.
The ONLY thing that Elucien's and Gwynriels fail to adhere to at this point in time in terms of these characters is who their endgame person will be.
It seems we are the only ones who have a fairly good read on their behaviors, who they are, what's important to them, where they would thrive based on how they've been described and who they would best be suited to.
These are books and just because Elain said, "I'm part of this court and will do what is necessary" it doesn't in fact mean that Elain will forevermore be happiest in the NC and has to live there for the remainder of her immortal life simply because of a statement she made in a book prior to her own POV, a statement she made while still processing her trauma. As readers of books, we are fully aware that many times what a character states while processing trauma is not a true reflection of how they feel.
Not when the author placed that single comment on the floor then continued to build onto another pile of bricks next to it.
One brick being Elain needing sunshine.
One brick being "but Elain wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court....it sucked the life from her."
One brick being Elain missing the flowers in winter.
One brick being that the NC doesn't turn to Elain for help.
One brick being that we're told Elain might be acting a certain way so as not to disappoint her sisters.
One brick being that Elain loses her color in winter.
One brick that the rose necklace given to Elain needs light in order for it's true depth to become visible.
One brick being that Elain is a rose bloom in a mud field filled with trampling horses while Nesta in that same Illyrian camp was a newly forged sword.
One brick being that Elain's scent is "a promise of Spring".
One brick being that "but the spring court had been made for someone like her."
One brick being that the author said Elain took she and Lucien by surprise.
One brick being the author telling us that Elain and Lucien (not Az) are both happiest in nature.
Just because Elain doesn't seem to want Lucien right now doesn't mean that won't change in the next book. Just like who Aelin wanted changed drastically over the course of multiple books. As did Chaol, as did Feyre, as did Nesta (since she didn't seem to want Cassian at different points throughout the series) as did Eva, as did Juliette, as did Elizabeth, as did Claire, as did Violet, as did Sophie, as did Francesca, as did Tessa, as did Harry, as did Katniss (and so on).
Only paying attention to the direct quotes from a character or their behavior while dealing with trauma, thinking they know everything they need to know about them before they've even had a POV doesn't prove they know them better. It simply means they're choosing to ignore that Sarah is the kind of author who leaves crumbs for readers, who often writes her FMC actually wanting the thing that she insists she does not, who often writes her FMC avoiding her destiny before finally embracing it.
E/riels don't like canon Elain or Az more than Eluciens and Gwynriels. They like a one dimensional version of the characters where everything said and done could not have any deeper meaning.
"Az wants to eat out Elain and Elain wants to kiss Az which means they want to be together forever!".
"Az and Elain wanted to hook up but it's clear they were both in a bad place and probably not in the right headspace, especially as neither was first willing to discuss the struggles they're both having".
This narrative that we don't like canon Elain, Az, or Gwyn is tiresome. The only thing we don't like is shipping Elain with a guy who the author has clearly written been as someone who, despite his and her willingness to hook up months ago on their timeline, wasn't there for her when she was put into the cauldron, wasn't there for her when she was suffering from severe depression (even drawing straws so he didn't have to stay with her), who never offered her a kind word about the death of her father, who avoided HER for an entire year because he couldn't handle a bond that will always exist, who looked at another female with heat and yearning while she sat in the room with them, who never bothered to check on her after any of her fights with Nesta, who couldn't admit to his best friend that he had any real feelings for her and that he wasn't just looking to get laid, and who hadn't thought of a future with her beyond his sexual fantasies.
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