Jem Carstairs stan, first

as seen through my eyes

I think what’s getting lost here is that this was literally the first Twins Appreciation Week ever organized. It was announced relatively close to the event too, so there wasn’t even months of preparation. It was essentially a first attempt.

Every appreciation week starts somewhere. Even appreciation weeks for much more established characters weren’t huge the first time around. So I genuinely don’t understand why the amount of content is being treated as some sort of failure, or even called a flop. Why? Because it didn’t get the same level of engagement as events that have been happening for years and have had five years to build a community around them?

People still made art, moodboards, text posts, and spent their own free time celebrating characters they enjoy. That alone is worth appreciating.

What I especially don’t understand is why people are criticizing the fact that certain ideas or themes were repeated. What exactly is the problem? Why make fun of people who were simply trying to celebrate characters they like?

And honestly, there’s no real reason to hate these characters in the first place, especially from people who also say they like Elain. Nuala and Cerridwen are the ones who helped Elain start eating again. They’re the ones she began spending time with when she was deeply depressed and isolating herself. Are we just supposed to forget that?

Yes, Feyre thinks they deserve a raise because they’ve been spending so much time with Elain, but that’s Feyre’s assumption. They weren’t paid to befriend her in the first place. They chose to spend time with her before anyone suggested rewarding them for it. That matters.

And honestly… I don’t really understand why this has to become “the Twins vs. Gwyn and Emerie.”

Someone can genuinely love Gwyn, Emerie, and the Valkyries while also being excited to see more of Nuala and Cerridwen. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Nobody is asking the twins to replace Gwyn and Emerie. Gwyn and Emerie had an entire book dedicated to their growth, “complete” character arcs, and they became Nesta’s found family. Of course there’s more material to work with. Of course they’ll have more fanart, more analyses, and more people participating in their appreciation events. They’ve simply had a much bigger role in the story so far.

Nuala and Cerridwen are in a completely different position. They’ve existed since ACOTAR, yes, but they’ve always remained in the background until SJM explicitly told us that Elain had grown close to them and genuinely enjoyed spending time with them. That’s new information compared to the role they previously had. Feyre herself even realizes she hasn’t spent much time with them and thinks maybe she should have.

So if Elain is the next main character (and yes, I personally think she will be, although that’s not really the point of this comment) then it’s honestly inevitable that we’ll spend more time with the twins as well. We’ll probably get interactions, and moments that flesh out their friendship in the same way ACOSF expanded Nesta’s relationships.

Could Elain make other friends? Absolutely. We have no idea what SJM has planned. But RIGHT NOW, Nuala and Cerridwen are her friends. That’s not headcanon, that’s canon.

That doesn’t diminish the Valkyries in ANY way. It simply gives other characters room to exist too.

As for the event itself… yes, there were headcanons, moodboards, mythology posts, and people filling in the blanks. But that’s kind of unavoidable when you’re celebrating characters who’ve intentionally remained mysterious for five books. The organizers even acknowledged that themselves. You simply can’t produce the same amount of canon analysis for characters who have barely had any page time compared to Gwyn or Emerie, characters who, quite understandably, received that development because ACOSF was Nesta’s book. If Elain gets her own novel, then maybe the twins will naturally receive more development too. In Elain’s book.

And even if many of you would rather see Elain’s main friendships revolve around the Band of Exiles, I don’t really see how that justifies criticizing her current friendships. Especially because, if we’re being honest, we barely know anything about the Band of Exiles either, we don’t even know if she would be friends with Vassa(???).

I guess I just don’t understand why any of this deserves criticism. People were simply having fun celebrating characters they love. Not every appreciation week has to look identical, and not every friendship has to compete with another one.

Fandom shouldn’t feel like every new appreciation event has to “beat” the previous one in order to be considered worthwhile.

Okay, first, I just want to say thank you for not sending this anonymously. I immensely appreciate that. I’ll also use this post to address some things related to me and this whole issue, so it ended up being a bit long.

Regarding the twins’ appreciation week, I wasn’t even aware of the number of posts or anything like that until an anon told me about it. On this particular matter, I completely agree with you. I didn’t know it was their first appreciation week, which was shocking information to me, but, of course, regardless of that, the twins naturally wouldn’t have as much content, and the week shouldn’t be mocked anyway. I’ll even add that I saw some fanart of them over the past few days, I now assume it was made for the week, and I thought it was beautiful! I honestly hope their appreciation week gets more and more content. I don’t agree with people making fun of the week itself.

But now I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree. This is a matter I think falls into this thing of the fandom, unfortunately, being two sides with different opinons on basically everything.

No one hates the twins. No Elucien or Gwynriel hates the twins. They don’t have enough content for us to hate them. There is nothing wrong with or hateful about them, but they are simply very minor background characters. Other than their names, there is nothing that makes them distinct individuals. They have no defined personalities, individual scenes, arcs or emotions. Again, there is nothing wrong with that, and none of this makes them awful characters. We like the twins.

I will always acknowledge that they might become more relevant characters. We don’t know what SJM has planned. I absolutely believe Elain will be a main character and receive the spotlight, and that might mean the twins will get more page time, character arcs, and development. However, I don’t think the fact that they helped Elain through her lowest point currently holds as much significance as some people claim. We didn’t read any of it. This is not me being selective. This is a series that focuses heavily on healing journeys, so there is little point in presenting part of one, if we never actually got to read about it.

Personally, I don’t think Elain has fully healed yet, so the twins might become more active and play a greater role in that journey in the next books. Are they Elain’s friends? Yes. Are they her closest friends at the moment? Also yes. But they do not currently represent a great, life-changing friendship. That is simply not in the books.

Now, about the whole "The Twins vs Emerie and Gwyn". I think my post was severely misinterpreted, which was probably my fault for not expressing myself clearly enough.

My comparison was this: I think the friendship between the Valkyries was portrayed much more strongly than the friendship within the Inner Circle, mostly because of the nature of ACOSF, which allowed that friendship to receive so much development. It doesn't make one better than the other, it simply makes them different. I, also, think because of The Valkyries, we collectively realized SJM could write this kind of strong friendship for Elain too, which would be wonderful. At this moment, yes, the twins are right there and could potentially fill that role. That is why I think people tend to gravitate toward the idea of the three of them as a found family. I don’t personally agree with that interpretation, but I understand where the feeling might come from. That is what I said.

If you feel that I diminished the twins, I am sorry, but I simply stated the reality of their characters as they currently exist. There is nothing that makes them distinct individuals. Maybe there will be in the future. No one here can know anything for certain.

This is my opinion about fictional characters. It is not me being racist or misogynistic toward them, as several Elriels have anonymously informed me through my asks. That is absolutely insane, considering I never mentioned anything remotely related to their race or gender, nor did I place them into boxes based on those characteristics.

And if I did, then I would also have to be placing Gwyn and Emerie into a box.

And you're right. They are completely different type of characters, it can't be compared. The coincidence starts and ends into the fact that both groups consist of two women. That's it. My comparison was about the way SJM could construct Elain's friendships, and how that, hypothetically, could be closer to Nesta's with The Valkyries or Feyre's with the IC or something entirely different and new.

It wasn't about the characters themselves. They are incomparable.

I don't think the friendships need to compete. I was comparing the structures through which they were developed and how those structures affect the way we perceive and feel about each friendship group.

It is no coincidence that BB is using the Valkyries in its marketing. People loved them, and they were one of the best parts of the book. Yes, people also love the Inner Circle, but I believe readers reacted to the two groups differently, especially considering that the majority of the readership consists of women. So, yes, I don't think Feyre and Rhys, who are the epitome of acotar characters for SJM, giving them a raise is a good thing or a good sign for where that friendship will go narratively.

That brings me to the most heated part of this ongoing discussion within the fandom.

I am going to generalize here because I know not everyone thinks this way, but for years, ever since ACOSF was released, some Elriels have repeatedly claimed that Gwyn and Emerie are minor and insignificant characters. That is simply untrue. The amount of people I have seen actually diminishing both of them is insane, mostly Gwyn, because it ends up being related to ships. People have called her weak because she had to be carried during the Rite. They have called her selfish for “making” Nesta and Emerie finish it. They have said she cannot have a romantic relationship because she was sexually assaulted. Some have even suggested that she could be lying about her assault in order to turn her into an antagonistic character.

Yes, this is someone's opinion, but seriously... in what book did any of this happen?

Anons in my asks today were also very quick to call her a “white woman” and bring race into the conversation, as though I support her simply because she is white, when no one had said anything like that. No one in this fandom had even brought that into the discussion.

Some Elriels will also immediately argue that Gwyn and Emerie cannot appear prominently in the next books because Nesta’s journey is over and they are merely her supporting characters. First of all, I don’t believe Nesta’s journey is over at all. That was practically spelled out for us in HOFAS, but that is another matter entirely. Both Gwyn and Emerie have character arcs that remain unfinished. How are they insignificant? How are they only Nesta’s supporting characters? They are characters who were introduced and featured so prominently in ACOSF for a reason, even if we don’t yet know what that reason is.

If Nuala and Cerridwen were to become more significant characters with individual arcs and distinct personalities, would they simply be Elain’s supporting characters? Or would they be characters receiving substantial development for some larger narrative purpose? Would they exist solely to support Elain’s journey, or would they contribute to the books as a whole?

This is where people were going with this discussion. If Elriels claim to love the twins so much, why is one of the first things some of them mention the twins' connection to Azriel and how that connection automatically links Elain to him?

I literally had an anon rushing in to shove this in my face, saying gwynriel will never have that.

Is that all Nuala and Cerridwen are for? Based on the way you spoke about them, I assume that is not how you personally see them. However, with some Elriels, it feels exactly like that.

We can mention the fact that they were kind to Elain of their own free will and helped her through her lowest point, but it does not change the fact that we didn’t read about any of it.

It made us wonder how this friendship works. What else do they do together? What do they talk about?

But it did not make us feel anything, because we never actually witnessed it. We did not even see it through the eyes of another character. We were simply told that it happened. And creating an emotional response is fundamental to writing and to any art form.

The structure needed for this response is not there for them.

My reasons for connecting Elain with the Band of Exiles are extensive and unrelated to this particular discussion, but we do know more about them than we know about the twins. They have background, personal issues and even have a bit of banter between them. Me supporting that idea does not automatically make me a Nuala and Cerridwen hater or an Elain hater. It does not mean I am trying to bring them down. This kind of accusation, which is constantly made by some Elriels, is old and exhausting. Disagreeing with a particular interpretation of a character does not make me — or anyone else on the matter — a hater. It certainly does not automatically make someone sexist or racist, as people love to claim.

This became much longer than it was supposed to be, but, to summarize, I agree with what you said about their appreciation week. It shouldn’t be mocked, and people are completely free to have fun with whatever they want within the fandom. That is what fandom is for. However, I think some people felt the need to point out that Nuala and Cerridwen sometimes seem to exist within Elriel spaces primarily as a “bridge” between Elain and Azriel.

They are not currently well-developed characters with established backgrounds. They are simply kind to Elain, and some people treat them as that "bridge" while simultaneously talking about how incredible they are. That can seem contradictory.

I think some people interpreted that contradiction through the apparent lack of posts during their appreciation week. However, now that I know it was their first week, the lack of content makes more sense.Apart from that, it is your week, and you all have the freedom to do whatever you want with it.

At no point comments were made to diminish the twins as characters. We like them, but some ideas surrounding them are simply hard to swallow.

No friendship needs to compete with another. My comparison, at least, was more structural rather than personal.

I also feel the need to say that some things simply come down to preference and opinion. I know I’m not going to completely change your mind, just as you’re not going to completely change mine.

Hell, I even disagree with fellow Eluciens sometimes. That is completely natural.

However, I always appreciate hearing a different point of view when it is delivered respectfully. There have been several nasty Elriels anonymously sending me asks today, just as I know many of my fellow creators receive them. I am also sure that Elriels receive nasty messages from Eluciens and Gwynriels.

Unfortunately, there are nasty people everywhere.

The worst kind, though, and I assume some of them might be reading this, are the people who are only willing to be nasty anonymously.

This is not an invitation, but in the future, put your money where your mouth is.

No one needs to compete or argue for worthiness.

Elriels can cry about it

I’m gonna hold your hand when I say this, I genuinely don’t know what you’re talking about

But there is nothing wrong or hateful about the twins!! No one ever said that, they are actually quite likeable, so I can see people wanting them to be friends with Gwyn too. We simply stated the absolute truth that they are indistinguishable individuals, with no personality (they are just nice) and not relevant for the plot whatsoever at this point

but at the same time, i don’t think she’s nearly freaky enough to actually do it.

🤷‍♀️

The fuck?? What book did you guys read??

The way you people go way off with everything s insaneee

1) the twins were there for her lowest, but we didn’t read about it! So it doesn’t make any difference, we didn’t see it happening

2) when you write this stuff, for the love of God, write properly.

White man I think you mean Jurian, who not only made the joke when he was undercover and pretending to be a dick, he is one of the most interesting characters in the series. And “whitewoman”?? You mean Vassa?? Who is not white? 🤨

completely wild !!

This thing of diminishing Gwyn and Emerie should be their biggest red herring in everything they say. Like, how do they think poorly of these characters? What book did they read? It's insane

It literally doesn't matter if she got her friends before, we didn't read any of it. It doesn't have the same effect, not even a tinge of it. It is a book, we need to read things on it. The twins might be her life changing friendship, her found family, but we need to read about it. If that's the case, they're not there yet.

And this same old thing of calling anyone who's either critical of Elain or simply doesn't agree with you guys an Elain hater is sooo ridiculous at this point and uninspiring, like, you want me to freak out because of that?