#sjm is a bad author

[ladyofspringcourt]

Writing SJM fanfiction is so depressing. At some point, you'll just stop and wonder why you're making do with what little world building she has, when you are able to create an entire history/culture/country for your fanfic in one sitting.

I now have an entire data file regarding the history, culture, military status, geography, and lineage of the Spring Court. It's fucked up. I can make a whole new story from scratch with that 7 pages of info dump—and I did that in 3 hours. On the other hand, SJM is yet to release the names of the protagonists' parents+ surnames of their love interest.

#spring court #anti sjm #sjm is a bad author #sjm critical #She fucked it up so bad I can't even laugh at how ridiculous the world building is #tho #ig it gave fanfic writers more freedom? #but seriously #imagine writing that many books with so many pages #and still have readers confused with your fantasy world #ASOIAF established everything in what #3-4 books? #and that's a more extensive world building

[ae-neon]

On the topic of wingclipping, sjm's fart worldbuilding and Rhysand being evil

Let's really take in the fact that he is canonically the most powerful HL ever and his only attempt at helping the Illyrians has been to make wing-clipping illegal on paper

But didn't set up any enforcement of the law. There are no Illyrian police or social services who go around spying or arresting clippers.

He can't alienate or push the Illyrians and the Court of Nightmares 😭💔🥺😓 cause he needs them.

So why does he terrorise them? Why does he actively threaten the citizens of the Hewn City at every opportunity? Why does he put a bastard in charge of the Illyrians when it flies in the face of their values?

Why is he willing to defy and lose the support of his only armies for two individual people but not for the thousands or millions of women and children who suffer at the hands of those men?

He's been HL for 500 years, of which he only spent 50 utm and 100 playing Amarantha's ally. So for 400 years, he's actively sat back and essentially sanctioned the abuse of women and children in his court.

It's an analogy for real life FGM, practiced by a fictional culture that's deliberately been poc coded and it's only important and saddening when it can be used to support the three racist moc and their white cultural vulture girlfriends

I know sjm doesn't really read back on any of her own words to check for consistency but does she even comprehend the things she says??

#sjm is a bad author #anti rhysand #anti sjm #sjm critical #anti ic

[toast-com]

A Tearing Apart of SJM's Awful Fantasy Books, from the perspective of a fantasy enjoyer and bookworm.

One of my classmates told me today: "You hate a lot of things." That is true, I am very much a hater of media that is bad/boring/not immersive/ and such. Many of the things I talk about in that class revolve around me talking about books I personally hate. I've had many impassioned rants about said subject.

Now, I love the fantasy genre. I'm sure everyone who follows me knows this. I have a tendency to be swept away in whatever fantasy novel I am reading at the moment, and if it is good, it'll stick with me, and probably influence my writing.

If it's bad, on the other hand, like Sarah J Maas' "A Court of Thorns and Roses," book series and other awful fantasy books I've read it becomes the subject of an angry rant.

My hatred from this series all stems from the SJM's lack of care and neglect for the characters she's created and the world she's brought to life.

Anyone who follows me knows that I love to write and that I love reading.

Many of her characters do not have last names, or sometimes even first names. They don't have hobbies or birthdays. It's ridiculous that she can't even provide her characters with last names, or even a date of birth. The shoddy worldbuilding, the inconsistent magic system she plays fast and loose with, and many many other things are the reason why I'll never read any of her other books.

So it makes me angry whenever I read the ACOTAR books. There's so much wasted potential in every aspect of the books and it angers me.

#anti sjm #sjm critical #sjm is a bad author #toasty talks #rant post

[anne-et]

I see the Twitter thread talking about a literary beef involving Sarah J. Maas with a bunch of other authors:

#since it's been a few months since I entered the universe of SJM #find out about them now #I didn't like her anymore and this gossip just made me like her even less #if you know any #I beg you to speak #sjm critical #anti sjm #anti sarah j maas #sarah j mass #sjm is a bad author

[hereathemoment]

Sjm said nes Lucien wouldn’t work because they’d eat each other alive or whatever but then she wrote ACOSF Nessian

Maybe Lucien will be the sweet Cassian we used to know for his book

#sjm is a bad author #nesta deserves better #anti acosf

[szalonykasztan00]

How to explain most S/JM plotholes theory?

So we all know by now how no matter what S/JM favourites do the narrative and ppl in the world will like to be angry for 5 min and then forget about it. Or how some characters suddenly act OOC. Like Beorn's comments on the High Lords meeting and how Nesta in the ACOSF suddenly feels unworthy of Cassian and Ferye. Staff like that

It's obviously just a plothole or maybe something else you think is more possible but...

I was thinking too much and crafted a theory that technically explains it by their world standards (It is stretched like a sheet on a beetle but holds on for it).

So y'all know how queen bee controls normal bees. It sends pheromones to the bees and they subconsciously know how she feels and wants. And then do it.

My theory is what if Rhysand (and by explication Ferye) have like that with their dementi power.

They subconsciously send to ppl around them their thoughts and emotions. (They kinda did it to each other - Ferye painting stars on her drawer, whatever the f happened after UtM with oversexualized Amarantha in Ferye's dreams etc. - that may be a bond thing for the theory).

But because it is a thing they don't do intensely no one can really feel it either. Like every High Lord suddenly leaving Tamlin even if politically speaking there is no sense in it because of probably long and complicated trade ruts between courts - Ferysand hates Tamlin, everyone hates Tamlin and suddenly decides to brake probably important trade ruts. Rhysand hates Nesta and doesn't think she is good enough for Cassian and Ferye - Nesta suddenly feels unworthy of them and hates herself to the extreme. Rhysand thinks Ilyrans and CoN are incapable of changing even though there is probably a large chunk of them that don't think like that or can change - and they don't. Everyone forgiving Rhysand for stealing, torturing and doing Hitler level of shit UtM etc. - Ferysand thinks it is ok so everyone is ok with it.

It's so subtle that no one can really check it but the more time you spend with them more it affects you. Like if you meet them for 5 minutes then you can say something OOC but nothing too drastic. If you are meeting with them regularly or are living with them then you can become their version of yourself.

Normally it would be mainly used by baby dementis to early communicates with their parents.

Now you may say: Okey but what about other dementi's do fae over thousand of years didn't catch it?

Well, they did. If we assume the fae are living by more or less medieval standards then they must have guilds to regulate staff. Magical and no magical. So we can assume that there is a guild of dementis (obviously less powerful than the famous dementi). That control every new dementi that is reported to them. But Rhysand could simply don't be reported (for various reasons). Because he wasn't reported he never learn how to control it and because he was the one to teach Ferye neither did she.

Why does the guild never act on it if Rhysand's skills are well known? Well, bureaucracy, maybe some age limits or law or jurisdiction limits. He is a High Lord and an ass, they might realise he is a dementi too late and now can't do anything without his cooperation.

So in that theory, they both are going around with the baby level of very dangerous skill. It would be a shame if someone told everyone about it, would it be?😏

Again this is a theory that is stretched like a sheet on a beetle but what do you think? Does it have some sense?

#acotar theory #acotar thoughts #worldbuilding #anti sjm #sjm is a bad author

[ofbreathandflame]

Here's my thing: Why join (or continually contribute) a fandom with an author who is known to be racist -- that is racist by your own admission -- and then get mad when other people continually talk about those problems?

I'm not even saying fandoms can't reclaim and participate in fandoms with irksome authors -- I'm saying that when you're in those fandoms and you seem irritable at those critiques then there are some ideological problems there. I like ASOIAF but I live for the scathing anti-criques because they're absolutely right. I scroll through like yep, yep, yep. It never bothers me, not even a little. That's for every fandom I participate in. Because racism is never just an irksome problem, it should never get on your nerves, and I could talk about it all day. Because when you look at the world through the lens of a black woman (and other women of color ofc) you are NEVER not going to see it. I like TVD but there was so much shit one dealt with, that we had to actively ignore for the sake of being able to enjoy the show. I really wish I could ignore it all, but sorry not sorry.

I feel like a lot of people like to make their annual post about SJM's racism, and then don't want to consider two things (1) that the racism isn't actually isolated and permeates throughout all of her works and (2) there are consequences (or at least there should be) to being racist. Even if you have somehow come to terms with the racism in the story, that doesn't mean other people will or have to. The only way we even begin to solve the problem is by continually talking about it. It's just very crazy, IMO, to say that we are allowed to be upset -- but not in a way that disrupts your fandom experiences. That little irritation you feel every time a new post hits the anti-tag is racism. That little irritation you feel every time someone brings up Nehemia and the problems in Throne of Glass -- is also racism. I may be over the character conversation, but I'm not over the ones like these that have real consequences in the world of literature. It's just very frustrating to see people turn criticism of SJM's writing into a misogyny problem when the majority of the people doing the criticism are women of color.

LIKE -- are we supposed to talk about the racism once every blue moon for kudos points and then go back to pretending it doesn't exist? What are we gaining with that approach quickly?

The anti-anti sentiment is tired, and much more representative of people's unwillingness to address the problems than anything else. Like y'all are asking a group of people to....sympathize with someone who doesn't see her black readers as human enough to live on the page/?? Human enough to be represented as actual, complex human beings -- it don't sound wild to y'all? I'm pro anti for any racist author who crawls up the depths into the light of the publishing industry.

We complained about Nehemia and not only were we met with silence -- she did it AGAIN. And then stuck the remaining mixed race women with the man the story thought needed to be redeemed, with the main whose people enslaved her own -- and then the next black women we met come in the form of servents, and then the next black women as jealousy fodder, and then the next black women is brutally murdered, debased -- and I think has her head shaved, and that was FOR HELPING the main character. Then the next black woman is sidelined for the villainous, blonde-haired sister who got all of two words in the first book of CC. Lack of diversity is bad, but not inherently racist -- rather a symptom of white privilege. I wouldn't fret about it. Conscious, negative, and continuous bad representation is another thing entirely.

Anywho may the anti-community continue to thrive for this and any other racist author ❤️

#i hate antis aww well sorry not sorry #anti sjm #am i supposed to feel bad??? well i don't #be nice??? #to a r*cist author? #i think NOT #yall dont send me bait posts i am not that strong

[praetorqueenreyna]

I think one of the most frustrating things about the sequel ACOTAR books is how blatantly and frequently Feyre and Rhysand (and, in the real world, the author) misrepresent or outright lie about what happened in previous books. Especially when it's to the end goal of 1) making Rhysand look like he was a Good Guy The Whole Time, or 2) making Tamlin look like he was a Bad Guy The Whole Time.

I'm not saying that that the Feyre/Tamlin breakup could never have happened, or that Feyre/Rhysand is completely impossible. But it could have been done with a much more deft and subtle hand that doesn't completely contradict what we have already been told to be true.

AN EXAMPLE!

In ACOWAR, Feyre concocts an evil plot to manipulate Tamlin by making him insecure about her relationship with Lucien. I'm going to completely ignore how Feyre describes herself as a master manipulator/criminal mastermind/girlboss by *checks notes* putting on lingerie and rubbing up against her boyfriend's best friend, because frankly I do not have time for it. Instead, let's check out Feyre's explanation for her dastardly plan, and what inspired it.

Even without consulting the scene she's talking about, this is already objectively wrong. If Tamlin was warning Lucien to back off because he was worried that Feyre would prefer Lucien over him, it wasn't because of some macho alpha-male possessive bullshit. Tamlin doesn't have """plans""" that Lucien is threatening. It's because the fate of the entire Fairy Realm depends on Feyre falling in love with Tamlin!!! Something that Feyre knows by this point!!

Anyway, I was curious about this moment Feyre is referencing because I read ACOTAR a month ago and I don't remember anything like this happening. I remember specifically BECAUSE I was expecting a love triangle between Tamlin, Lucien, and Feyre to bloom, and that Tamlin WOULD get jealous of Lucien at some point. It would even make sense in the context of the curse, given that Tamlin needs Feyre to fall for him, and he's kind of awkward and grumpy while Lucien is fun and non-threatening.

So, let's revisit ACOTAR. The only argument between Tamlin and Lucien where Tamlin tells Lucien to "back off" is this one:

There is no interpretation of this scene that would imply that Tamlin is telling Lucien to back off flirting with Feyre, or that he's jealous/possessive of her already. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Tamlin is getting cold feet about forming a relationship with Feyre, because he doesn't want to hurt humans like his father did. Meanwhile, Lucien is pushing him to keep trying, because the fate of their world is in his hands. This is Tamlin telling Lucien to stop hassling him about the curse.

Is this the biggest literary crime in the world? Of course not. But there are dozens of moments like these sprinkled throughout the sequel books. They are designed to change the reader's perception of what's already happened, so you fully accept the (false) truth that Feyre (and by extension, the author) want you to now believe. It makes it deeply frustrating to have any useful conversation about these books, because they aren't consistent. Yeah, if you blindly believe everything the author is telling you about Tamlin, then he seems like a horrible person. But they rely on badmouthing and lying about Tamlin so much that you have no choice but to accept that he's a monster.

Also it's a fucking stupid mistake. Why even reference a real argument in the first book if it doesn't mean what you want it to mean? And I know Feyre thinks she's a diabolical GENIUS for remembering this argument, but you don't need a referenced argument to gather that a dude might be insecure about his partner rubbing up against his best friend. That didn't need a reference. Also this whole plot is stupid and the book is stupid and bad. Thank you and goodnight.

#acotar #a court of thorns and roses #tamlin #lucien vanserra #feyre acheron #sjm critical #I'M SORRY SJM IS A BAD AUTHOR #THESE MISTAKES ARE SO EASY TO NOT MAKE #YOU HAVE TO TRY REALLY HARD TO MAKE THEM #sjm's editor really just took the money and ran huh #me a month ago: I'm done talking about acotar #also me: writing long meta about acotar #LEAVE ME ALONE

[bookishfeylin]

I remember going to the bookstore once and picking up one of S/J/M's books. Thumbed through it. Saw the passage(s) about white women being described as gorgeous and beautiful and attractive and I think it was someone called Nesryn who got described as plain even though her features were like mine. I never forgot. Nor do I forgive. It happened when I was younger and not yet comfortable in my own skin. It's better now but since then, I refuse to read any of her books. I hope she gets her head out of her ass one day and realize the damage she's wrought.

Nonny this hit me so hard I almost started cryingggggg because that was me years ago. I hope one day you fully love yourself and your features and complexion, if you don't already 💜

You certainly aren't alone. I remember HATING my dark skin and my features when I was younger and I remember crying because I couldn't be "white and pretty." And I had to learn to love myself in increments. Now I can't help but wonder how many women of color grow up feeling worthless because we don't adhere to Eurocentric beauty standards.

This is why it irks me when Sarah's books are called "feminist" by her stans. Who exactly is being empowered here? Certainly not little Black and brown girls, who have to read Sarah describe our features as "plain" and "dull" and inferior to white women over and over again. A work isn't feminist it doesn't treat its women of color right. Period. Sarah's books are wildly popular, and I truly hope no little Black and brown girls internalize the ideas Sarah presents in her books. Because you're right--her books could cause a lot of damage and could aid in festering internalized racism that's going to take years to unlearn.

I don't think Sarah will change--she has too many loyal readers who will buy anything she puts out, hence the quality of her works decreasing with time--but I am glad that we now can have these conversations about the way media perpetuates Eurocentric beauty standards and the psychological ramifications of every piece of media you consume saying you and people who look like you are ugly and inferior. And I'm glad we're starting to have more diverse voices now to challenge that notion.

#ask #anon #anti sjm #on media #racism #representation matters #white supremacy #internalized racism #see acotar 1 has no poc in it #which sucks but this is sjm #and she's such a bad author that 'no diversity is better than bad diversity' really applies here

[ae-neon]

Posting an old draft

Acotar reread (very nitpicky and rant-y)

chapter 8

Feyre is crazy? SJM is stupid? One of the two.

Tamlin doesn't hate Feyre. Lucien hates Feyre. Feyre's plan? Get Lucien to "plead her case" to Tamlin. So go to the one who probably wants you dead to get the one who's trying to be nice to you to... Be nice to you?

I didn’t doubt Tamlin’s claim that the rest of Prythian was deadly for a human—and if there was indeed some blight on these lands … I was better off here for the time being.

But not without trying to find someone who might plead my case to Tamlin.

At this point Feyre is completely unaware of the need for her and still thinks that according to the treaty she must remain in Prythian.

She does however know that she's likely in the safest place, her family is taken care of and she's not a slave or servant. She even thinks to herself there's not really anything she can do if she gets back home.

SJM also didn't really build an emotional connection between Feyre and her family so why would the reader believe or care about Feyre wanting to go home??

I’d never been particularly good with words, had never learned the social warfare my sisters and mother had been so adept at...

I feel bad for her

we know sweetie, don't worry, sjm got a mind reader in the bag so you won't have to learn or grow as a person and even though you'll be HL you'll have no real power or job so it won't matter then either

Feyre can hear the Fae of the manor but not see them. I think it's Alis' nephews. They're laughing at her. I wanna see what Fae kids are like

And the plates … I could have bought a team of horses, a plow, and a field for just one of them. Disgusting.

Acotar Feyre hauls out the guillotine for High Lady Feyre

The stable boys she can see for some reason and they all have horse masks. Were they at Amarantha's ball too? Did she invite literally every member of Tamlin's court? And as stable boys why would you all wear horse masks to a fancy party? Was it a work event?

Chapter 9

Again, in retrospect, Lucien knows they need Feyre so why is he so committed to acting like he wants her dead or gone. SJM don't make your characters look stupid challenge: failed for the 498th time.

"He cares about Andras" Andras literally gave his life so they would have this chance??

"Where is the rest of Tamlin’s court?" Feyre says this and we're supposed to believe she doesn't know he's the high lord???

“Something was sent from the shit-holes of Hell,” Lucien and Jurian definitely bonded over how much they personally hate Amarantha.

Anyway,” Lucien went on, “the High Fae don’t have specific powers the way the lesser faeries do...

A lie????

*

I didn't finish writing this but I'm gonna post this anyways, maybe it'll make someone crack a smile

#acotar rant #not really #sjm is a bad author #anti sjm #sjm critical

[toast-com]

My Ocs have birthdays, last names, and hobbies outside of screwing each other.

Does Sarah J Maas' characters have those things???? 🤔

#toasty talks #sjm critical #anti sjm #sjm is a trash author!! #sjm is a bad author

[lesbopolo]

we're living in hell

#sjm's the most mediocre and overrated author #i dislike her SO BAD #mine #bookblr #fantasy books #sarah j maas #sjm #crescent city #r f kuang #rebecca kuang #babel #babel an arcane history #house of sky and breath

[moth--garden]

help i love Holly Black’s mft series soooooo much, nothing quite fills the void of dark fantasy with horror elements, the presence of class and real family tensions… fantasy but there is still so much to deal with irl. i picked up acotar from the library because i saw it on a list online and dropped it after 10 chapters for its crimes of being bad. like i don’t mind when there is a build up and expositions, but i guess the narration was a bit :// for me. i really can’t do complex fantasy aka usually a reflection of medieval europe. i am also fine when not getting immediate explanation for things but the story so far really signalled to me that it would be full of men telling the protag what to do, the protag resisting, and then finding out the man was doing it for her own good and seeing the tag it seems like all the sisters get a government assigned man doing all those things too but in different flavours…

#we are not escaping patrarchy if sjm is the big popular fantasy author rn… #also i’m bad at using this side blog aksjdbak #does anyone have other recs? #garden archive

[fridayiminlcve]

what is your problem with tiktok or booktok and colleen hoover lmao its not that bad surely

the fact that it actively promotes overconsumerism, the way it sells books to you by just playing into already heavily milked out tropes with very specific character niches that are seen in every book nowadays and how the reading is just seen as something aesthetic or a part of the "it girl routine" maybe? if those are enough reasons for you?

does the fact that these books are the first things you see when you walk into a bookstore not bother you? when you ask someone for a book recommendation they'll follow it up with "its a romance slow burn enemies to lovers". it's always about the aesthetic of the book, how many lines can you take out of context and post as a compilation of your super cute romantic annotations page on instagram. no analyzing the book, no theories, no symbolism or meaningfulness at all. how people stand reading those kind of books and still feel any kind of emotions over these flat as hell books with no world or character building is genuinely baffling to me

no one seems to know about actual literature anymore, which not to sound like a boomer but i think its definitely true. there's always been trend cycles, i agree such as the harry potter craze from the 1990s to the 2000s and the dystopia hunger games/maze runner/divergent blast in the early 2010s but tiktok has just.. shortened these cycles so much. as a result, people like our darling colleen hoover whose written around 46 books since 2015 (according to google) try come up with as much fresh content as they can as quickly as possible for the readers (see overconsumption). the fact that this lady outsold the bible is not outstanding to me, its fucking concerning.

and after all that, the result is badly written books with characters who're about as dimensional as a piece of paper, overuse of tropes, read like they've been written by a toddler, toxic-ass relationships being romanticised, very unnecessary sex scenes and countless other things. seriously if i wanted to read about the kind of stories hoover tells i would just open a wattpad account.

not clowning on those who made the choice to read it. i'm trying to highlight some of the flaws i find in authors like colleen hoover, sjm, ali hazelwood, casey mcquinston. some of them might be good, i wouldn't know because i actively try and avoid them at all costs. also i am BEGGING u all who will have an objection to this post to reach out of your comfort zone and read something different like non-fiction or fantasy or one of the classics for once if you only read booktok like seriously it might be hard but just do it for the love of god!! if you're annoying on this i will block you by the way i don't care

#nike muses #asks #anon #anti tiktok #anti booktok #anti colleen hoover #anti intellectualism

[lorcandidlucienwill]

I don’t think people get it. There is nothing wrong with liking something in fiction that you would normally despise in real life. That is not my problem with Rhysand and the Inner Circle. My problem is when an author writes a story in a way that clearly shows they agree with these characters. I love a little freak as much as the next person, but not when you’re trying to convince me every two seconds they’re the good guy while they’re simultaneously doing bad shit. And yes it’s first person POV, so of course Feyre will think she’s right. This is why there needs to be a moral check. Suzanne Collins did this really well with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Even without the existence of the OG series, you can tell the author/narrative does not agree with Coryo even though he thinks he’s right because Sejanus acted as a moral check, someone to challenge the MC’s view. Lucien could’ve been a moral check for Feyre. He so damn nearly was when he said “The girl I knew died under the Mountain.” BUT SJM DIDN’T COMMIT TO IT. Feylin could’ve been the tragic romance, Feysand the villain story. BUT SJM DIDN’T COMMIT TO IT. So instead, we have a half-baked hero who SJM clearly believes is in the right and not only is that poor writing but it reflects her irl beliefs. The way you think is reflected in the way you write. This series is targeted at impressionable teens when it’s clearly dark romance and I see people defending Rhysand and shitting on Tamlin and calling Rhys the hero. It’s ridiculous.

#anti rhysand #anti cassian #anti azriel #anti mor #anti amren #anti ic #anti inner circle #anti sjm #tamlin #pro tamlin #anti feyre archeron

[lurkinggirlie]

Elain & Azriel are EndGame

Azriel’s bonus chapter: semi-essay on my thoughts

This post will be a long one. The shipwar has been going on for far too long, and there's a possiblity that we'll be getting closure soon. So, I want to put my thoughts out there. For Obvious reasons, I could be very wrong, but this is what I think based on canon text: (Ignore any errors..I haven't edited this, and I'm sure there are many posts like this that are way more articulate)

Elriel are endgame. If they’re not then Azriel is kinda pathetic and having him end-up with anyone else is bad writing and character assassination. (Which we sadly won’t put past sjm but I don’t think she would..at least I hope)

1- Elain has no other love interest. Yes, Lucien is her mate but we have hinted at a broken/rejected mating bond for the longest time when it comes to these two so having them accept it eventually is going to be quite underwhelming, repetitive and boring. Even Lucien seems to have given up/isn’t interested in bridging that gap between them, which we’re told in both acofas and acosf. Unless you want to count the longing pointed out by Cassian, although Cassian also pointed out that Lucien was also uncomfortable when he mentioned his mate. To add on, there is no sexual tension between the two, and we know how important that is for sjm’s couple. You can't keep whining "but Elain isn't giving him a chance, if only she gave him a chance, then maybe this and maybe that" Elain is not a seprate entity, she is what SJM writes, Sjm could have written that but she did not yet and I'm not sure if she will. It feels too late at this point, she had already shown us that Elain has feelings for someone else aka Azriel. The author doesn't have to spell everything out for us to understand to what's going on. Sarah usually makes it clear who's endgame. and she literally is. So, it would be very sudden and out of the blue if Lucien and Elain were to end up together when she had never shown it before. When even Azriel pointed this out “I think Lucien will never be good enough for her, and she has no interest in him, anyway” people can say Rhys killed elriel, that the bonus chapter ended them. But this line right here tells us otherwise! First we know Azriel and Elain can read each other so well that they don’t need words, and then Azriel tells us this. He’s literally telling us that Elain does not want Lucien.

We also cannot compare elucien to Feysand or Nessian in the “enemies to lovers" department, because these two seem to hardly care about each other. For obvious reasons she wouldn’t accept or reject Lucien in a book that isn’t hers. But if they do end up together I’d feel robbed that she had more sexual tension with Azriel than she did with Lucien. And we know that Nessian and Feysand had sexual tension before getting together. Most of what we got from Elain and Lucien was awkwardness, and discomfort. Not a single spark. Furthermore, it would feel like Azriel was just leading Elain own. Plus their romance (Lucien and Elain)  would not feel organic, only getting with Lucien because she felt rejected by Azriel, which doesn’t give epic romance no matter how sjm tries to spin it. It would always make Lucien seem like the second choice.

2- Azriel regifting the necklace was a dickhead move, and offensive to both girls. Anyone thinking the regifting of the necklace ended elriel or started gwynriel is delusional and clearly doesn’t know how the romance genre works. (should’ve thrown the gift in the Sidra like Cassain did) I can’t believe Rhys isn’t paying Azriel enough that he felt the need to return the necklace to the shop instead of throwing it. Senstive Illyrian baby indeed. 

3- Rhys saying stay away from Elain (can we take a moment to appreciate how sexy Rhys was for pulling rank, he really made the ship more interesting now) and Azriel actually listening to him?? When he told him you can’t order me to do that. shit would be underwhelming if Azriel actually stayed away? Hello? Secret relationship potential ? Hello? Forbidden romance potential  ??? The tropes would be epic. Sjm had never done that. And I’m not saying she will, but this is how I see it playing out. + Azriel saying it was a mistake to Elain, and Elain apologizing?? The fact she was confused/hurt and probably thought she misunderstood the whole situation? SHE IS BABYGIRL?? Regardless, Azriel saying it was a mistake and it being a mistake is NOT it. This is not how romance works most of the time. This is such a basic romantic trope, why are a lot of people misinterepting it? Elain deserves better, and sjm isn’t about to hurt Elain’s feelings without making it up to her. And she’s definitely not making Azriel end up with another girl before he fixes that shit. I will be needing a proper apology to Elain.  

4- Whenever people think of the bonus chapter they weigh in Azriel’s feelings far more than Elain’s. It’s clear that Elain and Azriel’s feelings are MUTUAL, ignore the bonus chapter and it’s right there in the actual book. I don’t think Elain got the memo that Azriel had  a conversation with another girl after he hurt her feelings which made him realize he’s in love all of a sudden. *sarcasm*  that would be very out of character for Azriel. 

5- His chest sparkling at the thought of Gwyn getting the necklace was so??? I have been saying he’s for the streets and yes this was out of pocket. So, I understand people shipping them. However it could mean anything really, you can't continue saying that Gwyn in the bonus has to mean something, and that that spark must mean somethig but continue to disreagrd every single Elriel interaction like they mean nothing. Because for it to be taken as romance we’d have to ignore the beginning of the bonus, the feysand’s bonus acosf/acomaf/acowar and acofas. + we could easily take this in a platonic way, which is how I viewed it when I read the bonus. Not everything has to be romantic. And sjm will NOT introduce a new guy to make him end up with Elain since we already established Elain doesn’t want Lucien and Lucien doesn’t want her either. 

6- I know that a lot of people have theories about Gwyn being a lightsinger and all of this happening because of her powers (While I do think this is very smart, it wasn’t something I thought of so I won’t talk about it). I do think it’s possible, and all the theories I saw were really cool but idk where sjm is going with this, so to make it simple I do think it could be because she’s his student, she went through a lot it could simply be platonic happiness that a girl who went through so much is going to be happy about something. Even if it was a secondhand necklace specifically picked with ANOTHER girl in mind PLUS I do think sjm wanted drama, and for people to doubt elriel cuz now they have all these obstacles, so Gwyn would be the easy choice, but the second choice regardless. The relationship would feel icky and I genuinely cannot see the potential gwynriels keep talking about. I would take the ship a lot more seriously if a) he didn’t regift her another girl’s necklace b) there was more to them in the actual book. c) he wasn’t still upset about it 3 days later… 

7- There’s a high possibility Gwyn never even got the necklace..

He gave it to Clotho not Gwyn, he didn’t want his name mentioned, and then said if any other girl would like it to give it to them: the aim was to get rid of Elain’s necklace. It’s sort of a parallel with Cassain throwing away Nesta’s present.

I think it’s possible that Azriel went there because he knows how much the girls in the library have suffered, especially since his mom did too, it's possible he thought "okay this is a pretty necklace, I don't want to hold onto the reminder of what could've been, so instead of throwing it let another girl be happy about it. At least it won’t go to waste”

Clotho could tell there was something wrong, like maybe she sensed the energy and decided ayeee let me keep this aside for him, he might come back and ask for it. 

The bonus did not happen at the end of the book 

If Azriel was truly in love with Gwyn now /or he wanted her/ or more between them was going to happen/ or they were mates according to some theories we could have AT LEAST gotten more after the bonus. 

We know the bonus happened after solstice.

Nesta mentions that Azriel was stone-faced and more aloof than usual, he wouldn’t even give her a smile. That was 3 days after the necklace situation. I think it would’ve been a great opportunity to highlight any attraction between Azriel and Gwyn.

Maybe he sees the necklace around her neck, maybe Nesta and Emerie compliment Gwyn’s necklace, or Gwyn telling them she doesn’t know who it’s from, maybe they tease her that someone might have a crush on her. Nesta could’ve pointed out that Azriel was looking at Gwyn’s necklace.or looking at Gwyn in some sort of way. Literally anything. 

Anyone pointing out the way Azriel and Gwyn looked at each other. A charged glance perhaps. Literally ANYTHING. We only got him looking at her with admiration which is very teacher coded. 

If sjm hadn’t made Nesta realize Azriel had a thing for Elain then maybe gwnyriel would’ve been more appealing to me. But no, Nesta noticed. This doesn’t mean nothing people.

aside from that we got nothing romantic, but a part of the fandom still acts like we need to exile Elain because she’s coming between Gwyn and Azriel’s epic love story.

Not everyone has access to the bonus.  

The Azriel chapter was only in ONE store in the US, but Feysand’s bonus chapter was in 3 stores in the US and UK. I don't know but something tells me it’s more important.  Soooo if SJM would do a love interest switch she would not do it in a bonus chapter, and wouldn’t be highlighting the Az/Elain interactions in ACOSF as much as she did. 

Feyre’s chapter focuses on Elain, it literally tells us Elain is next once we’re done helping Nesta. EASY MATH. and the Azriel bonus also focuses on elriel/Azriel’s feelings. ENDGAME MATERIAL RIGHT HERE. 

But the girls swear up and down that Gwyn and Azriel’s book is next because of a secondhand necklace. 

Let’s assume elriels are the delusional ones (like so many of them say), how do we explain these. 

Casual readers who usually read books and aren’t on the internet and aren’t looking for bonus content (wish that was me)  (lord knows I skipped every bonus chapter in throne of glass and crescent city and I wasn’t confused about anything. Not even once) so they’d expect answers for 

The Charged glance between Azriel and Elain

Azriel following the sound of Elain’s laughter. 

Elain looking away when Azriel smiled at her during family dinner, Cassian god bless him that idiot could NOT piece all of that together. BUT it was still highlighted through his POV ???

His secret to tell never hers (and we do learn of that secret in the bonus but people who didn’t read it could only guess so they’d want a confirmation) and sjm did say in one of her lives that Nesta learns of one of Azriel’s secrets (she looked all giddy about it)... and that Azriel is going through some shit right now…and we learn why from the bonus chapter. 

Cassian being confused that it seems like Azriel moved on from Mor

Nesta pointing out that Elain moved on from Graysen

Cassian wondering why Elain is lying about where she’s going. (I viewed this as her avoiding Azriel but idk) 

Azriel’s protectiveness of Elain. He gives mate behavior without the mate part. (I will hit him on the head though omg let my girl do something)

Elain willing to look for the troves even when Nesta wasn’t, the girl wants to do something  (her journey is coming next) 

Nesta wondering if Elain is training with Azriel or the twins (who are spies that were trained by Azriel !!!) 

Feyre telling Azriel that Elain got him beat for secret keeping. Sure it might sound delusional but Elain keeps being compared to Az/being a spy and maybe this could be a thing. 

Elain speaking back to her sisters about them treating her like a child?? Hello finally 

The way Elain’s mother only treated her like a pretty doll which shaped up Elain’s whole life??? I want this from Elain’s POV sooo bad 

In conclusion, we’re not pausing Elain’s story so Azriel can end up with a side character in a spinoff about an og side character, we’re sticking to our og side characters for now.

Azriel being over Mor because of Elain, and Elain moving on from Graysen because of Azriel only for Elain to get over Azriel to be with Lucien (who we got nothing from aside a mating bond..) and for Az to get over Elain and questioning fate for her…only to end up with gwyn…like I don’t think anyone could take Azriel’s feelings seriously if this happens. Shit will be too goofy.  Because if he ends up with Gwyn who says he won’t move on to the next pretty girl he sees afterwards.

To add to that, what plot would we have for Azriel and Gwyn. We'll get more Valkyries training, more healing journey so the plot would have to be paused for this. Nesta’s book was mostly about her healing journey and friendship, while it was nice I don’t want a repeat for the next book. Especially since we know the Rite took a toll on Gwyn, she went back to the library, wasn’t even sure she would make it to Nessian’s mating ceremony. This doesn’t give the protagonist of the next book to me. Or "I thought it was pretty obvious"

Elain’s healing journey had started in ACOWAR, she got her friends in ACOWAR. Now is their TIME to do something!! She is next. 

Closing thoughts on what I think would happen based off each ship happening: 

If elriel happens = new sjm couple dynamic/interesting plot. Fresh sjm protagonist that is unlike sjm's others + we don’t ignore all the foreshadowing and hints. We follow the love triangle we set up in the og trilogy + finally get a rejected mating bond. And instead of warrior training we might get spy training and instead of physical power (as far as we know) we get something more mental. Again this is very new for sjm + there’s a lot to Elain’s power that we don’t know and since Azriel was the one who found out what she was, I think it would make more sense for him to know how to help her. Imagine the sexual tension during training..yes please. I hope sjm doesn’t rob me. Elain is really mysterious, we got Nesta’s inner thoughts before her book but we still haven't gotten a peep about Elain’s inner thoughts and I’m just dying to know more. AND THE STAKES!

1) Rhys forbidding Azriel from Elain, 2) Elain’s mating bond,3) Azriel’s self doubt and how he doesn’t think he’s good enough. 4) The blood duel and the political mess we could get into. (Lucien probs won't but what if Beron would, the breeding potential, A seer must be a powerful thing she can see things others can't and I think that’s valuable. If Eris thought Nesta was valuable as cauldron made and there was no potential there, so The Autumn court probably feels even more entitled to Elain) We have high inner and outer stakes. I have a feeling SJM will fumble all this potential but a girl can dream 

If elucien happens = another successful mating bond + “enemies”  to lovers sort of but they won’t ever be mean to each other so maybe not enemies, just dislike and awkwardness to friends to lovers?  We ignore the hints about a rejected bond and in mating bonds we trust. We also ignore all the elriel hints, and their mutual feelings. We follow the love triangle set up in the og trilogy. I don’t think Lucien could train her in anything? Maybe self defense, Idk Sarah could pull something, but I don’t see Elain leaving her circle of friends but neither do I see Lucien settling in the night court and leaving his own friends. There are no stakes but Elain’s and Lucien’s awkwardness around each other + Elain’s feelings for Azriel. Elain’s and Lucien’s plot connects though so at least there’s that, SJM could ship them off on a mission together and make them get closer. Forced proximity sort of thing. 

If gwynriel happens then = we lost the whole plot, ignored the foreshadowing and hints found in the actual book. Mentor to lovers, civil with each other. Azriel has to move on from Elain first though and that could be icky. Healing journey, more Valkyries training. So we pick up from where we left off in acosf, and we’d see Azriel trying to get her to come out of the Library, or he goes to visit her there until she agrees to come out again. Maybe if Gwyn is a lightsinger then idk more training with Azriel? Again, no stakes but Gwyn’s trauma and Azriel’s self doubt oh and also his feelings for Elain. But that’s it, Gwyn as of now does not connect to the overall plot with the troves (she’s not made therefore she can’t use them) or koschei. So I don’t see us making her go on a mission like that. I’ve seen a lot of gwynriles saying Gwyn has spy potential idk where, but she could barely keep a secret for Nesta so I highly doubt she’d be keeping secrets for the IC. 

Ps: the original koschei plot is 3 sisters marrying 3 very powerful wizards and like idk 3 sisters 3 brothers…we can have a retelling ya know 

#elriel #pro elain #azriel shadowsinger #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #Azriel's bonus #anti g*ynriel #anti el*cien #elain archeron #acofas #acosf