If it’s not too much to ask, could you explain the context of that video you recently shared?

The woman talking about the shipwars and not to think too much about every interaction? Is that someone on SJMs team?

The woman speaking is Steph, she is SJMs friend. She used to be very involved in all things SJM up until 2022. She used to host a ton of Lives with SJM and you can find them on YouTube.

The other one is Ava, who had a prominent IG page. Ava and Steph are friends.

Both of them got real deep into the Gwynriel rabbit hole after ACOSF.

However, in this Live Steph started backpedaling and basically said that readers shouldn’t view random interactions, even if they seem flirtatious to some, as some indication of endgame couples.

Yep! I totally agree. Some of her interviews from around when ACOSF was released were clearly taking her by surprise with the questions that she was being asked. She was confused when it was implied that there was something romantic going on between Gwyn and Azriel.

Furthermore, it's interesting that soon after ACOSF, her Lives ended, and just before that, it seemed like she put all the speculation on ice, with Steph. At one point, it was almost like--stop asking me this, I am not discussing it.

And since ACOSF she literally never mentioned and/or addressed Gwynriel, or talked about Gwyn in any capacity.

No, I think what she wanted to do with the Bonus was to confirm Elriel's interest in each other, explain some of the stranger parts of the Solstice scene, and lastly, draw attention to Gwyn being a LS.

That's pretty much it.

it was in one of the Lives post ACOSF with Steph, who was gagging over Az. And she asked something about Gwyn and Az, and SJM was like 'what?' It wasn't a direct question such as 'are Gwyn and Az a couple?" but Steph said something like 'a lot of people speculate online about Gwyn, and Gwyn and Az' and SJM looked confused.

Later on, in a different Live, Steph backpedalled and did a whole spiel about not reading every interaction between characters as 'romantic'.

IT IS. IT IS OBVIOUS😂

before people get too much into the weeds, there is precious Steph asking SJM directly if Az will get a book.

All she says is that she is excited about writing his journey. She never confirmed any 'Azriel book'. Only that she will write his story. And that at the end of ACOSF, we'd know who the book is about.

Anyone thought the book would be about Lucien? or Nesta? or Gwyn?

Not really.

She found Feyre and Elain waiting halfway down the hill, Nyx now dozing peacefully in Elain’s arms. Her sisters beamed, beckoning her to join.

And Nesta smiled back, her steps light as she hurried down the hill to meet them.

Acosf - Chapter 80

There's one thing that's been on my mind lately: GA's insistence that Gwyn's birthday be in January. This is because Sarah said during a livestream that Azriel's partner would celebrate her birthday on January 15th, in honor of Sarah's friend. They cling to this argument as if it were completely correct, but I don't know.

The whole thing was a spontaneous joke between SJM and Steph, but desperate GAs —for some reason—took it as gospel?

No matter how they tried, Gwyn’s bday still didn’t fall in January so I’m really not sure why they’ve been so keen on this.

Steph was like, hey, can you make Azriel’s mates bday be on my bday?

SJM looked kind of confused, then laughed and said okay.

That being said, you know what I’m not doing? Spending my limited free time trying to debunk the other ship. I see so few posts actually offering ideas and potential plot lines. Very few to no posts about what the book would actually be about.

Are you guys not so f-ing tired of this?

But you know what I see? “Why ______ argument about Elriel isn’t valid.” “Why Elriel are just lust and nothing more.” “Why the 50+ Elriel scenes mean nothing.” Are you guys not tired? It doesn’t give security and confidence in your ship to be in anons arguing about your perception of the invalidity of one ship without any insight on what the hell your beloved ship will even be doing. What the story will be about. How it will serve the overarching plot.

Come into my anons with that instead of more shit from the bonus chapter. Or if it is about the bonus chapter, tell me what you think of the other bonus from ACOSF. Tell me what you think about the odyssey parallels. Don’t just troll. Give me your real thoughts. On the books. Not lives with Steph from 2021.

Stop wasting time just trying to debunk another ship so yours can sail. Give me ideas and thoughts. If you’re trying to convince me and other Elriels, give us your thoughts and ideas. Give us your theories.

Tell me, what do you think your book will be about? Why do you think Azriel loaned truth teller to Elain? Why do you think Elain got Az a gift 2 years in a row and not Lucien. Come into my anons with ideas. Do you think these scenes are insignificant? The people want to know.

I’m again asking:

1. Why is Azriel unaware of the mating bond? Why didn’t he react like Cassian did to Nesta being taken into the BR?

Not to mention that Steph's request had NOTHING to do with Gwyn. She didn't ask for Gwyn's birthday to be in January. She asked for HER birthday to be given to Azriel's future mate.

Seriously. Seriously they think that a Live that happened after the book was written and published is some kind of something? Some 'proof' of something.

They believe:

Gwyn has red hair and turquoise eyes (she has coppery brown hair and and teal eyes, a dark blue-green color)

Gwyn is a mermaid (she is a river-nymph, a slimy human-like creature, not half-fish and obviously not from the sea)

Gwyn's rescue was romantic (a scene of pure trauma and it being Azriel's mission, saving the priestesses and just him doing the basic covering her nudity after she was sexually abused and then taking off, then there's a romantic rescue scene right there when Azriel wasn't in a mission, he was worried about Elain, wanted to sacrifice himself for her, carried her back to safety while being wounded and then received a kiss on the cheek, him all fucked-up with wounds but still cradling her to his chest, but oh no the other scene is romantic... right)

Gwyn in danger and Azriel siphons flaring means he was worried about her (he was thinking about a man instead of worrying about Gwyn, and he was worried about all of them, but even more about Nesta, also Azriel's eyes glowed when Elain was in danger instead of just something so dry linked to his powers)

Gwyn has the necklace (we don't fucking know, and she would probably be uncomfortable as fuck to have it if she found out its emotional meaning and how it reached her)

Gwyn making Az feel sparks, lulled and lured, hearing silent songs are hints that she is his mate (when it's her powers acting on him because those things aren't mating bond signs dumbasses)

Gwyn is Azriel's love interest (when it's actually Elain since Az was created as the third brother, met her and had all these romantic scenes and romance building and now they want to fuck each other)

Gwyn will be the next FMC (when it's actually Elain since she was created as the third sister)

Antis:

Elain:

We have seen his shadows be most intimate with Feyre so are they endgame too?

“The spymaster had waited in silence. I tried not to look too uncomfortable as he scooped me into his arms, those shadows that whispered to him stroking my neck, my cheek.”

Also comparing how Nesta’s power grumbled in answer to Gwyn… just like Azriels shadows singing in answer to her.

A BIT MORE SHYLY TO AZRIEL 😩🤭

AZRIEL OFFERED HER A SMALL SMILE 😭🙂

THAT ELAIN QUICKLY LOOKED AWAY FROM 🥹🫣

CASSIAN TUCKED AWAY HIS PUZZLEMENT. LUCIEN WAS CERTAINLY NOT HERE TO SNARL AT ANY MALE WHO LOOKED AT HER FOR TOO LONG. 🥲🤔

I don't see it. I will never see it.

Just to add, seeing the romance between Azriel and Gwyn is so forced. He doesn't even consider her a friend. She was just someone to talk to while he was depressed.

The necklace wasn't even for her directly! Clotho could've given it to anyone, but she brought up Gwyn most likely because she knew Azriel had trained her. She's a student to him at best where things currently stand.

Get comfortable with two things: platonic and just friends

it's in the name. calanmai.

therefore if gwyn and catrin were conceived on calanmai, and fae pregnancies last 10 months...

- the CHD had ample airtime to talk about the next greatest FMC of all time, gwyn, but SJM purposely kept quite. these questions were probably vetted beforehand too. you're telling me alex alluded to bryceriel and the starlight pool in spring but not gwynriel? yeah that was deliberate.

- the rings that just dropped, approved my SJM herself, the collection is inspired by the women of the night court. namely feyre, nesta, elain, amren and morrigan. yet again no gwyn to be found.

- the mate quiz on her website. if gwyn was the next FMC and so important going forward, why not include her? instead we got the characters from the original trilogy.

- in the other interview (i believe it might have been with sarah maclean) where fan questions were submitted and chosen by the publisher. in fairness there was a question about gwyn, but rather relating to lightsingers, to which SJM said A+ reading. if she was an FMC, wouldn't SJM have elaborated a tad like she's been doing with elain?

- the time article again had no mention of gwyn but did bring up the notion of rejected bonds. which we all know applies to elain specifically.

- the playing cards released by gadget for entertainment, if gwyn was supposedly an FMC, why wouldn't the king/queen couples have been feysand, nessian, gwynriel and elucien? instead the cards featured feysand, nessian, elriel and morrigan + amren. weird how they didn't take the opportunity to put gwyn right in centre stage

- the placeholders for the books themselves. one is a pink gradient with orange and blue ends, which suggests elain, lucien and azriel respectively. the other one is a greyish colour, which could be argued for azriel's shadows or elain's murky realm. gwyn's colour is famously teal. if she's the FMC, why don't the colours match her scheme? why do they better resemble elain's instead?

1. No matter how much people try to diminish Elain’s trauma surrounding the cauldron, Lucien will always be tied to it. He is partially responsible for her kidnapping , forced-transformation into a Fae and the robbing her of mortality. He could apologize for centuries and, even if Elain forgives him, that still will not erase the trauma and despair he inflicted on her (indirectly or not, it doesn’t matter). This isn’t a basis for a romantic relationship. Elain can work through and overcome this trauma, but that doesn’t mean she’ll forget it all together. That’s not how it works.

2. Elain doesn’t owe Lucien anything. It’s sexist and unfair to expect a woman to return niceties and joyfully accept gifts from a man she’s uncomfortable around. One thing I see all the time is, “She’ll warm up to him. Once she gets to know him, she’ll fall head over heels and apologize.” This is such an unhealthy take. They’re ignoring how Elain feels and are essentially saying, “It doesn’t matter how much emotional and physical turmoil he’s put her through, it doesn’t matter that she is uncomfortable and shows not the slightest interest to get to know him. He’s a ‘nice guy’ who deserves her love, time and affection.” Elain’s boundaries and autonomy matter. The author would send the wrong message to women by having Elain grovel for him despite her disinterest and everything he’s put her through.

3. In an outlandish hypothetical, let’s say that Elain accepts the bond, or, as others like to theorize, breaks the bond and then decides that she does, in fact, love Lucien and chooses to be with him. How is that a fruitful, satisfying arc for a female character who has had her autonomy repeatedly stripped away? How does this address Feyre’s question about free will in a mating bond, or Azriel’s of the cauldron’s infallibility? Lastly, why would the author herself talk so much about ‘free will’ and ‘there’s true mates, and then there’s nature made a mistake’? If people asked themselves these questions and used some deductive reasoning, they would (hopefully) come to the conclusion that EL will not happen.

Elain will take control of her own fate and break the mating bond, ending up with the person that she herself chooses and loves (Azriel), not the person that outside forces chose for her, thus successfully completing her arc.

It reminde me off what Maas said about Katniss and Gale (I believe) how after what happened to her sister and the role he played, they were never endgame.

Not only did Maas hold Lucien accountable for essentially shoving Elain into the cauldron - an event he was part of that ruined not only her life but Nesta’s as well. Lucien was also a bystander in the abuse Feyre faced at Tamlin’s hands. He indirectly harmed both of Elains sisters, knowing that, they will never be endgame especially when you also take into consideration how he doesn’t have a good relationship with Nesta, someone who Elain loves and truly saw, but his relationship with Feyre is also deteriorating. Now compare that to Azriel, the one who sees and understands Nesta and has a good relationship with Feyre. But you’re right, the way Maas linked Lucien to Elains trauma- thats not the basis of a romantic relationship at all. Its actually a con for why they can never be together, those events will always stain their relationship and hang over them.

The way Maas has written Elain towards Lucien so far, to backtrack and make Elain give Lucien a chance “because he’s a nice guy” or just because they’re mates reinforces this patriarchal idea that women always have to give men a chance which is redundant for Elains character especially after her FAS speech where she declares Lucien is not entitled to her time nor affections. Having Elain grovel? Or even come to the realisation she was just being “silly” by pushing Lucien away all support male-centric idealisms which for an author whose all about female empowerment - isn’t a good luck nor something she’s about to do.

It honestly isn’t satisfying because it tells us, you can’t escape fate and what it has planned for you - which honestly is just depressing and shows how that there is no actual free will, its all an illusion. It means that the cauldron can’t ever be wrong so some faes are rlly just unfortunate and have to spend their lives with an incompatible match - all of this is depressing. Its shows us Love is not strong. That it can’t conquer a bond.

Its honestly common sense at this point! Like, Maas has said nature can pick wrong for a reason, thats a concept she is excited to explore. When elucien break their bond - its going to be on that basis, the cauldron picked wrong. There’s no comebacking for elucien after that because it proves they are not soulmates and in this romance series, Elain will obviously end up with her soulmate, whose not Lucien.

Her romantic arc was hinted at with the line,

“A love that will trump even a mating bond”.