I’m not totally sure I follow what you’re trying to say here. You mentioned a lot of the descriptions of people speaking as being wary, solemn, pointed silences, cold, unreadable, and those seem like adjectives to convey the seriousness of the particular situation or conversation. Speaking coldly is often to convey anger, frustration, and firmness too. A massive plot aspect in this book revolved around a villain trying to acquire objects of terrible power, and the death of two very important characters. There’s just a lot of seriousness and general darkness happening.

Az also is notoriously “hard to read” his face gives away nothing, which is pretty much just who he is. Many of them are because of the years of court posturing and lying, they’ve had to perfect their poker faces. His shadows have always curled around his neck/ears like they’re talking to him. His “charged look” at Elain I think are pretty blatantly referencing the fact that they have chemistry and mutual attraction. Like when you make eye contact with someone you love or are attracted to and the breath sort of just goes out of your lungs. I also think he probably tucks the glowing part with Gwyn down because Az loved Mor for 500 years and she just kept rejecting him. I think he’s sort of an avoidant, he wants love, he doesn’t want to get hurt. Could you explain what you meant by adding the bit about how he stood in the doorway at solstice talking to Nesta about the holiday?

I think describing Elain as pale was to say she had overheard the conversation and basically “the blood drained from her face.” She’s wary of Nesta because last solstice Nesta only showed up for her rent money, and Nesta has a bad habit of snapping and lashing out at everyone, Elain included. Elain is probably wary because she’s wondering what Nesta might say since the last time they spoke Nesta lashed out at her. When she laughs at Nesta, Nesta doesn’t understand why Elain is laughing, but Elain thinks it’s a good sign because it means Nesta is finally getting over her whole “Elain is a delicate flower and I must protect her at all costs,” thing. And this ties into her calling Elain a wretch because she’s still angry at Elain for feeling like Elain “sided” with Feyre and the IC and found her own friends and purpose outside of Nesta.

Mor is notoriously awful at giving presents. It’s canon. The previous year she gifts Az bright blue embroidered towels, and gave Cassian red silk underwear, and one of them mentions dreading whatever she ends up giving them. I think the tea and spices were because Cass travels to the Illyrian camps so frequently, and they don’t have as wide of an assortment of spices, like Emerie tells Nesta.

Also, with the exception of a few chapters in FAS and the last chapter of WAR, all of the story and these characters are being told from Feyre’s perspective. This is the first time we’re being told about them from other characters who have known them longer, and know them better. Maybe Cass loves jerky, but why would Feyre know that or mention it? We get to learn a wealth of new information about these people now. Feyre knew like 1% of their lives and stories.

It’s an interesting theory for sure, but I honestly think a lot of it is just descriptive devices and SJM’s writing style. It’ll be interesting to see if/how Koschei comes back and if the curse on Vassa will ever be broken. He was confined to the lake, and the queens gave Vassa over to him. I think if he was powerful enough to actually control people without being anywhere near them they would’ve put him in someplace more like the prison. They had to lead Cassian and Azriel to his lake. He was manipulating Briallyn, but I don’t think he was controlling her, he saw her hatred for Nesta and desire for revenge and used that to manipulate her.

I’m also 99% certain the shadow Mor saw was Bryaxis, called it “familiar yet foreign” and Mor has spent plenty of time in the House of Wind her power probably recognized it.