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@psychologynerd
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The lovely fawn standing before death
Jasmine
I don’t think we’re talking enough about how they said “lovely fawn” and not “trembling fawn”- lovely fawn is from the truth teller scene.
yet another line of official merch dropped focusing entirely around the night court, the three brothers and three sisters… i’m so shocked!
link for those interested 🫶
If the next book is elain’s then why all the secrecy and mystery? Sarah could announce elain is the protagonist without mentioning her love interest
For a variety of reasons.
1. Anticipation. It stirs up a lot of conversation keeping quiet.
2. The giveaway regarding the ship war: when she confirms Elain, she’s confirming Elriel bc
Azriel got a bonus chapter. Not Lucien.
Azriel was in the cross-over.
It’s obvious that it’s Elriels book as it stands but she wants to continue to pull things along and build more hype. She wants to explore the bond and let the readers figure things out along with Elain.
3. You don’t have to market anything if there is hype, speculation and conversation.
4. She might contractually not be allowed to disclose the POVs at this time.
To the contrary, Sarah has been very clear historically that Elain is getting a book. And unless you truly believe she’s
1. Deviating from the formula and Elain’s book will be multi-pov unlike Nesta’s (and what she said in prior interviews)
Or
2. She’s holding off on Elain’s book until Gods know when
…then it’s obvious what is happening here.
If you give away Elain, you give away A LOT of speculation. Bc it’s obvious who it is.
To the anon I just got,
“Let’s focus on helping one sister before we start on the other.”
Elain is next.
I’m certain.
Rot
Bone
Bloom
Like the second half of the Book of Breathings sang:
Life and death and rebirth
Sun and moon and dark
Rot and bloom and bone
•
Love me, touch me, sing me.
•
And as Feyre concluded, this was Chaos. The force the Princes of Hel would never defile with violence.
The Starsword and Truth-Teller unlocked the land’s ley lines and unleashed its pure, inherent magic. Like other parts of nature, it communicates through song: a symphony of life and joy and beauty. The stones bones of the earth move in perfect harmony with that earthly music, and its skin blooms with life once again.
Wait so after CHD podcast, antis were aggressively pushing the Part 1 - Elucien Book and Part 2 - Gwynriel Book agenda. But now the word symphonies is somehow connected to movements and that means Gwendara is the next FMC and the four movements is somehow her book. Makes total sense. How many more goalposts are they going to change? Genuinely so embarrassing.
I can’t keep up either. Is it Eluc*en?? Is it gwy*riel?? Is it multi-pov? Is it an epic fantasy quest reminiscent of LoTR with “side-quests?” I just had an anon saying Elain can’t carry a book this long. It has to be multi-pov. Now there’s “4 movements” and we’re back to GA. So what tf is it?
The goalposts move Every. Single. Time.
Can’t relate to that.
You know what’s crazy?
You’re never wrong when you change up the recipe every single time you get new information.
The fact that publishers already received the books for translation means leaks are basically inevitable now. Soon people like you and mortalfae are going to realize the multi-POV theories were right all along. Elain is not important enough and will have to share the book with other POVS. Another thing that will get confirmed is that Lucien is Elain's endgame. That will clear the way for Gwynriel to happen.
Get ready to lose on all fronts I guess.
“…people like you and mortalfae…”
@mortalfae7
And we won 🌚🌚🌚
Personally, I find it interesting Elain is listed with the IC here on this licensed sticker featured on IMG’s SJM landing site:
Just makes you wonder…
If Elain is leaving the NC and joining Day…or the BoE…why is she considered part of the IC? Ya know?
Anyways,
There are several reasons to be in favor of multi-povs without bringing ships into it. I thought it might be interesting to discuss because I have seen at least some people from every ship thinking that might be the case.
We have to look at the Call Her Daddy podcast.
The next three books are "one book":
And then I realized it was going to be four parts, a book told in four parts. So, it's basically it would be like three physical volumes, but it's like one thing altogether. So, it's meant to be read ideally as like one massive, massive story as opposed to like a trilogy. It’s not a trilogy.
Something about the POV(s) surprised SJM:
Q: You can't tell us whose POV it's from? A: Um, no. And that was one of the, like, surprising things for me in like, writing this and what came out.
I'm going to be blunt and say this: Elain is getting a POV, and probably the main one/a major one. Anyone who thinks otherwise... I'm not really sure what your thought process is there. It's time. Past time, in fact.
Given that Elain getting a POV is arguably so painfully obvious, I'm curious what was it that surprised SJM?
She also says that the way the story "came out of her" was surprising, but it felt right:
The story that was finally ready to come out of me was big. Really, really, really big. And as I started writing this in like this Montana energy vortex, like, it came out of me in a way that surprised me. But like what I was writing felt right. Like that was what the story that needed to be told.
The story she ended up with was "really, really, really big". And with so many plots up in the air, assuming ACOTAR 8 is the last book (don't know if this is confirmed), that makes sense. We're going to need a lot of pages to cover it all.
I also found this quote particularly telling:
But it's like it's a different-it's, you know it's ACOTAR, but just I'm telling it in a way that's exciting to me and like gives me the space that the story demanded and the characters demanded.
Some things I thought were interesting potential hints about what we might see:
Q: What is the King of Hybern’s actual name? A: Fred. Frank. Frank. I don't– Q: Actually yeah because– A: That actually might be something that… Q: We could find out– A: That is discussed.
So, we're possibly revisiting something about the King of Hybern, including finding out his name? Is this a Valg-related King of Adarlan situation? Sus...
Q: Okay. How do fae get into the House of Wind, because they don't have wings? Like, do they climb the stairs? A: This might be something that you find out.
I don't know that this points to anything specific, other than the fact that the HoW will be there at some point.
Q: Okay. What are Mor's powers? A: Like, truth? Q: Truth. A: But you like have other powers beyond that. But I don't– I'm not going to reveal any more about– there might be more about that! Who knows?
Mor's powers, hopefully. I know I'm dying for an explanation.
Q: Okay. Can you tell us anything about the Dusk Court, and are you going to explore any of it in your next book? A; Yeah, but you have to know– Like, what do you want me to say, Alex? What do you want me to say here? Q: I love you. A: What do you want me to say?
I think this is a good indication we'll interact with the Dusk Court. Obviously, we learn a lot about the Dusk Court in HOFAS, and the crossover is the most "recent" version of Prythian we've seen. And a whole missing court either awakened or waiting to be. So, again, that makes sense that we'll talk about it.
Q: Okay, how did the Book of Breathings and The Walking Dead end up in Jesiba's library? A: I don't know, you'll have to stay tuned for answers.
Now that we know the worlds crossover, it explains the mechanism of how the books could be in Lunathion. But addressing this would bring the crossover into the ACOTAR series specifically. Even if only briefly.
Q: There are a lot of theories that Rhys and Ruhn are related. Can you confirm or deny? A: hesitates Q: You're like “fuck off!”. You can say fuck off. A: I'm not saying that, I like you, i'm not going to– Q: Okay, fair, fair. Is Maeve related to any of them? A: I mean, what-- I feel like I should just hand over my notebooks to you and you can like comb through them for like all the little notes that I've made.
We know Rhys and Ruhn are related, through both being descendants of Theia, via Silene and Helena respectively. But, given that it's been 15,000 years... even if you say fae live 1000 years... that's a lot of generations to have so strong of a resemblance. It's less clear if we will find out if Maeve is related to them, but her tone (see the video 1:42:56 to 1:43:06) felt evasive to me. Obviously up to interpretation.
Anyways, all this to say, we have the obvious big plots...
Koschei: The biggest thread I can see right now. He's been teased since ACOWAR. It's time for the edging to stop.
Vassa and the remaining Human Queens: Given how big Briallyn was in ACOSF, I wouldn't be surprised if the Queens are sort of "mini-bosses" on our way to Koschei.
Ramiel: What are they hiding down there???
The Autumn Court: Both through Beron's alliance with Briallyn and Eris's alliance with the Night Court, this is in need of some resolution. I think Eris taking over would be a good pre-Koschei confrontation event.
The Dusk Court: I don't even know where to start with this. The court itself, the crossover fallout, Gwydion...
Vallahan: What do Mor be doing over there?
None of those are super character-specific. They can all be addressed without regard to ships.
We also have more character-specific plots (not an exhaustive list):
Elain's Seer abilities are the most obvious
Nesta's connection to the 8-pointed star
Lucien's parentage and the Helion/LoA/Beron situation
Azriel's connection to Gwydion via Truth-Teller
The Valkyries had a lot of build-up for it all to "end" with the Blood Rite
The concept of the Elucien bond and its ramifications (needs to be addressed regardless of endgame ships)
I could go on, but the point is...
The story has gotten too big for a dual-POV to do it justice.
And I mean any dual-POV. Elain and Azriel. Elain and Lucien. Gwyn and Azriel. Frickin' I don't know... Clotho and Balthazar. Any dual-POV limits the impact of a lot of these plots. Yes, Elain is a Seer and could theoretically be connected to any plot at any time. But using her visions like a deus ex machina to get her involved in a plot feels... inorganic. And yes, Elain could simply be told by characters already involved in said plots. But again, inorganic.
The story COULD be told through dual-POV, but is that the best choice, narratively?
As I said at the beginning (a million years ago by now), I care more for the quality of the story overall than who ends up with whom. And I feel that quality is best served with multi-POV.
Imagine the TOG plot, from HoF onward, being in exclusively Aelin and Rowan's POVs:
Literally who is Manon? She just shows up in Queen of Shadows with absolutely zero context.
No idea what is happening back in Adarlan with Dorian's powers and eventual possession, Chaol's internal struggles.
No knowledge of Aedion and his secret work on Terrasen's behalf.
I won't go into specifics, but also imagine CC from ONLY Bryce and Hunt's perspectives.
The story would get told, but the reader's perspective and understanding of the story would be extremely inhibited.
It has nothing to do with if I think Elain COULD carry all three books, because I definitely think she could. I think her story will be the most complex and interesting we've seen so far. But SHOULD she carry all three books? I think it would be doing the overall story a disservice. Will she just be running around from place to place, even crossing the sea, so that we can address all of these plots from within her POV?
Elain WILL get her story regardless.
I don't think that anyone would say that Crescent City isn't Bryce's story because of the multi-POVs, or that Throne of Glass isn't Aelin's story. Hoping for multi-POV in the upcoming books isn't about trying to take away Elain's story. It's about experiencing Elain's story in a greater context, in a way that gives the overall story room to breathe.
And obviously, nothing about this post changes the fact that the books are already written, in whatever POV(s) they will be. But it felt nice to point out that wanting multi-POVs goes beyond ships.
So I don’t think the formula has changed. I hear what you’re saying but I respectfully disagree. I think it’s still dual POV. I think it’s Elriel. I think it’s 1 large book broken down by part bc it got too long to bind (and also Sarah wanted us to get something before the entirety was complete). She also didn’t want to have to parse it down to fit industry and binding standards. The story got too big.
Let me ramble.
So you left out the rest of what she said in the quote about the pov.
Her exact words were:
“You can’t tell us whose pov it’s from?” “Um, no, and that was one of the surprising things for me and what came out of me, it’s—you get a lot of like insight into various things.”
I agree with @wingedblooms regarding insight.
ToG is entirely different and started as multi-pov. It was never dual POV. I don’t think the POV is changing to multi for this next book. I still think the formula is romance forward with the first 2 spin-offs.
To your point…
Personally, I think we’re getting another ACOTAR book after this giant next book (6-8) and I don’t believe Elain’s book will close every single plot.
I think the last book is very likely going to be multi-pov and I am hopeful it will include each sister.
Let’s go plotline by plotline here:
Koschei: connected to Elain. She saw him. Azriel has also seen him at the lake when they went to retrieve Eris.
Vassa and the remaining queens: connected to Elain. She saw Vassa. She connected the IC to Vassa. Her ill-fitted mate lives with Vassa. Elain met the queens in the archeron estate in the human lands, wished them well to burn in hell and was in Hybern with them for her making.
Ramiel: Connected to Elain and Azriel.
The Autumn Court: Elain’s ill-fitted mate is a son of Autumn. His father is aligned with Koschei. Azriel has bad blood with Autumn. We’ve seen the blood duel come up.
The Dusk Court: yes the star tattoo that Nesta no longer has and HOFAS. Azriel was there for the history hologram lesson. We don’t require Nesta’s pov. Nesta and Elain were made in the cauldron. They’re imbued with the raw power of the cauldron that was taken and warped from the land. They are both (Feyre too via her making. Let’s not leave her out of this) highly relevant to dusk and many of us believe the sisters make up different facets of Theia’s light and have starborn power (elain has wielded truth teller). The Dusk Court is also a slumbering court: slumbering land.
Vallahan: I personally think Elain could take over Mor’s role and Mor will train with the Valkyries. We’re definitely going to see a lot of Mor in the next book as the love story materializes. Mor is highly relevant to all of it.
So…Elain is a common thread amongst all of these plots. And she’s a seer. A gifted, cauldron-made seer with PowerS. Who will have many insights.
To keep it simple, I think Elain can and will address the plot lines you brought up. I don’t think they will all be closed by the end of book 8. I think there will be another book, most likely plot-heavy, and not romance-centric to tie it all together.
The fragility to harass a small company over a slide show about ships is WILD.
Eye of the Goddess
In Throne of Glass, we learn the Eye of Elena is actually an Ironteeth symbol and it is called the Eye of the Goddess. Blueblood prophets have this symbol tattooed on their hearts.
The eye inside the symbol represents the heart of darkness within the Goddess, and it is similar to the symbol on Juniper’s dust jacket for acotar 6 as @karmaliciouslife commented earlier on this post.
Sarah also chose to wear blue and a necklace with an eye on it to the CHD interview (as @mrspettyferr pointed out), and spoke about how this story was inspired by a mystical vortex and gave surprising insight into various things.
We’ve been connecting Elain to witches, and specifically Blueblood prophets and this Goddess symbol, for several years. Prophets are connected to the divine, like Elain, and they speak prophecies.
The Blueblood witches represent the maiden aspect of the Goddess and they supposedly require more iron, more pain, to keep them tethered to their realm. @offtorivendell and I wondered if this might explain why Elain, a Cauldron-blessed seer, has more iron (iron mental gates, iron engagement ring, iron bracelet, etc) and doesn’t mind the pain of gardening without gloves. In fact, we suspect she might be seeking it out to feel grounded.
Sarah has hinted directly through Feyre and symbols representing Elain that her powers allow her to commune with the Goddess, and I think that means traveling in her heart of darkness. Half-hidden in shadow. It makes sense that this would connect her to priestesses, and why she seems more priestess than warrior like the Blueblood Matron, and could use a dawn ritual to help keep her grounded as she explores her magic.
The Illyrians appear to be sensitive to these forces (perhaps the Goddess and her gods); they can sense otherness and feel larger forces peering into the training ring. According to Azriel, they are born hearing the song of the wind and have the wings (captured on Juniper’s dust jacket for acotar 7) to travel like a force of nature, harkening us back to Elain’s first question for Azriel about flight.
Will this power help illuminate more secrets of the past, including those that involve the land, Asteri, Illyrians, and the Cauldron? Does time bleed together for Elain, as it does for Ancients, in that heart of darkness? And could she have wandered to the past to give a lonely boy hope? I’ve been working on a little headcanon for elriel month where Elain is thrust into the past by one of Azriel’s childhood songs, and afterward, he was he so desperate to hear her voice again that he Made the shadows around him, bringing them to life through his yearning for that lovely friend he met in the dark. After all, Azriel is the wilder one and could be more elemental and connected to nature as a result. I don’t care if Sarah actually wrote this, it’s canon in my mind.
Elain’s magic has the potential to bring so many threads of the story together in such a unique way, and I cannot wait to experience it.
Psychoanalytic and Jungian Symbolic Exchange
Part 1: Truth-Teller Scene
This post is for fun and is not a professional opinion. I had a blast busting out my old Freudian and Jungian texts for this. I’ve spoken before about Freudian and Jungian theories being mostly obsolete in clinical practice. However, I thought a conceptualization would be fun, so here we are.
The truth-teller scene is not overtly sexual but highly erotic at the symbolic level. Sublimation, symbolism and psychological tension are major themes throughout the scene.
Psychoanalytic Symbolism:
1. Truth-Teller = phallic power, controlled masculinity and repressed desire; phallic symbol
2. The Azriel to Elain Transfer = intimate, displaced sexual exchange
3. Elain’s Acceptance = emergence of agency and awakening
4. Restraint = tension that amplifies erotic exchange.
Definitions:
Phallic object: something that represents a penis/libido
Sublimation: defense mechanism channeling negative impulses into productive, socially acceptable behaviors.
Projection: a defense mechanism where individuals attribute their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or traits onto someone else to avoid acknowledging them
** There is a symbolic exchange in Azriel loaning Elain Truth-Teller with notable power negotiation and sublimated intimacy. Let’s get into it. **
Truth-Teller as Phallic Symbol (“the obsidian -hilted blade”)
Singular, powerful, lethal: representative of masculine potency and agency
“It has never failed me once”
- A declaration of unerring masculine capacity
“Legendary” and intimately tied as an extension of Azriel’s identity (controlled, disciplined, repressed-self)
** What would Freud say? Truth-teller represents contained libido/sexual energy not directly expressed but, rather, sublimated into violence, control and protection. **
Transfer of the Blade
Intimacy without consummation
“…gently took her hand and pressed the hilt…into it”
Mimics a sexual gesture- mediated and displaced phallic object placed in hand
Gentleness contrasted with the blade’s lethality— tension between danger and tenderness = RESTRAINED EROTICISM
Intimate transfer: not just of the weapon but trust, power, and suppressed desire
** The transfer of the blade psychoanalytically represents SUBLIMATED SEXUAL DESIRE in an acceptable form of closeness. The blade transfer replaces direct sexual expression.**
Elain’s Response
Innocence, hesitation and initiation
“I— I don’t know how to use it.”
Surface level: literal lack of familiarity with weapon
Symbolic level: sexual innocence; lack of experience
Hesitation followed by:
“…slowly closed her fingers around the blade.”
** Elain accepts Azriel’s phallic object, symbolically accepting agency, danger and awakening desire **
Psychoanalytic motifs: awakening feminism in the presence of masculine energy.
** she is not passive in this scene. She chooses to close her hand around his phallic object **
Azriel’s Repression
Controlled Masculinity
Azriel is characterized by extreme restraint:
“…never once let another person touch that knife.”
Truth-Teller, as the phallic symbol, is closely guarded representing a sexual repression and/or emotional vulnerability.
Allowing Elain to wield it:
Serves as a breach of repression
Moment of subconscious desire cloaked in socially acceptable behavior (protection and battle readiness)
** Freudian model of repression -> symbolic displacement -> partial readiness
Witness and Triangulation
Presence of others adds a layer of social awareness and tension
Cassian “gawked” symbolizing that this is not normal.
This action (the sharing of truth-teller by Azriel) is intimate.
Rhys reinforces this uniqueness and the heightened emotional and symbolic significance.
This triangulated dynamic is common in psychoanalysis:
Desire is not expressed directly but becomes visible through the recognition of the abnormality of the expression (Azriel offering Elain TT when he never allows anybody near it).
Light and Dark
Erotic Duality
“Light and dark…the space between their bodies a blend of the two.”
Archetypal Interpretation:
Light (Elain): innocence, softness, light
Dark (Axriel): danger, repression, shadow-self
“The only bridge of connection…that knife.”
Their connection through his offered phallic object. The phallic object serves as the mediator of the union.
They cannot connect directly so truth-teller carries the emotional/sexual charge.
Jungian interpretation: meeting of the anima (feminine) and shadow (repressed masculine through the symbolic conduit).
A transfer of latent power and sublimated intimacy. Azriel sharing his truth-teller with Elain. Pressing it into her hand. Her wrapping her fingers around the hilt.
An offer of one’s self. An acceptance.
An offer met with permission to wield his truth-teller well. To activate it.
Gonna be golden
The credit for this connection goes to @psychologynerd. She wondered if Sarah mentioning the song Golden could be another clue, connecting the lyrics to Elain’s scenes, and I’d love for her to be right. The theme and specific lyrics of the song align well with Elain’s character arc.
This song is ultimately about female guardians hiding in plain sight and embracing who they truly are with confidence. And that journey is equated to coming into the light, a new dawn. Golden.
It’s also the key to creating a new and inclusive Honmoon, the fabric-like shield made of souls (ie, life) that protect their home, rather than simply strengthen the existing one which is tenuous at best. In acotar, this concept connects so well to the tapestry of the universe and ley lines. Ley lines carry language and life from one place to another. Those with earthen magic can sense this living flow. I’ve wondered if Elain actually see this flow as threads in a tapestry. Could they glow golden like the threads of life we see Nesta and Cassian weave together with true love?
That’s not where this arc and song start though. The song’s opening lines are I was a ghost, I was alone, reflecting the state of Elain when she was first Made:
Since that dark period, she has started healing with the most unlikely friends—two half-wraith twins, Nuala and Cerridwen. Characters who might identify with being misunderstood. Characters who hide in plain sight as part of their job.
She may have friends, and she may be living again, but she isn’t thriving because she hasn’t embraced her true self yet. She’s still living two lives, playing both sides, as the song suggests. She hides in plain sight like the demon hunters, and that may be one of the reasons her rose is still half-hidden.
But we also see glimpses of her bright future. Her voice is becoming stronger as she learns to speak her truth. She’s weaving her own story of struggle and hope and joy alongside her formidable sisters.
And Sarah has quite literally shown us golden flashes of Elain in the original trilogy and bridge:
-
-
Golden, like pure life blossoming from the Cauldron long ago.
In acosf, Nesta and Azriel, her forbidden love interest—like the demon Jinu—take notice of how she glows. She is as bright as the setting sun and glows like the dawn on the longest night to them.
And yes, she may have moments where she appears to be thriving, to be golden, but she won’t truly feel golden until she breaks free of old expectations and embraces who she really is and what she wants to become.
Waited so long to break these walls down
To wake up and feel like me
Put these patterns all in the past now
And finally live like the girl they all see
No more hiding, I'll be shining
Like I'm born to be
'Cause we are hunters, voices strong
And I know I believe
And if this is what Elain looks like when she simply appears to be golden, what will she look like once she is truly shining from within? I’m betting it’s not just golden, but iridescent. Like Hope shining in the Void.
Thank you for supporting my brain.
I'm done hidin', now I'm shinin' like I'm born to be We dreamin' hard, we came so far, now I believe
Waited so long to break these walls down To wake up and feel like me Put these patterns all in the past now, And finally live like the girl they all see
🎶🎶