bookishwithathought - Tumblr blog

[bookishwithathought]

No offense, but I wish you a very merry “no thanks” to any and all headcanons that fall into the realm of, “more pain for Lucien!”

It’s not personal. I just hate it.

[bookishwithathought]

How dare you

Helion x Lady Autumn

A Court Of Thorns And Roses

Artist: hancorinne_

[bookishwithathought]

I love Elain and her feminine energy. She exudes quiet strength. She's a social butterfly and is strong in persuasion. She enjoys working with her hands in gardening and cooking/baking, both of which take great knowledge, precision and skill to perform well. I'm really looking forward to reading about her journey and HEA, and I strongly believe it will be with Lucien.

[bookishwithathought]

Internet is back up and running so…

[bookishwithathought]

Season 1 // Season 2 // Season 3

[bookishwithathought]

He wouldn't call her a friend, which many claim that's all they could potentially be, instead leaving it undefined. Undefined can become friend, allies, work partners and even, dare I say it, lovers.

"But that quote just proves that they're nothing more than friends"

No. It proves that Azriel hasn't even taken the time to consider what their relationship is, BUT it sure has got him thinking about it now.

Feysand were friends before romantically involved. Elain and Azriel were friends before having any attraction to each other. I don't understand why Gwyn and Azriel have to be the exception to the friends-to-lovers rule.

I think Az x Gwyn have the best potential and make more sense as a pair, even if they were clearly not ready by the end of ACOSF. Even better, because IF Azriel and Gwyn are endgame, I want to see it happen in their own book and not in someone else's, or in a bonus chapter that may or may not count depending on the argument of the day.

At the end of the day, SJM left it open ended and undefined for a reason, and I look forward to seeing where she takes that "but..." with these characters.

[bookishwithathought]

The need I have to finally get Lucien’s POV on ANYTHING. I’ll even take just a paragraph at this point. I want to see inside his head so bad 😭😭😭

[bookishwithathought]

The forced proximity, regency vibes of Elucien 😭

going feral at the thought of elucien having a kanthony moment of “i am a gentleman, and you are a lady” before he’s suffocated in the intoxicating scent of elain, unable to resist as he leans down to press his nose into the jut of her neck. the tension, the inexplicable desire, the longing aghhhhhhhhh !!!!!

[bookishwithathought]

Can I please get a novella of Lucien’s journey to find Vassa? And I don’t know if he interacted with Papa Archeron but if he did, that too please and thank you 😭

[bookishwithathought]

One last Nesta for @nestaarcheronweek

Ember Quinlan the MVP of standing up for Nesta. Take notes Cassian.

[bookishwithathought]

Honestly, I've accepted that many people will fall for the IC and hate Tamlin as SJM intended, but one thing that will never NOT confuse me is...

SJM INTENDED for you to like Lucien? INTENDED for you to feel for Lucien? INTENDED for you to root for Lucien? INTENDED for you to think Lucien is hot? It is PLAIN AS DAY, considering she has AMREN and the KING OF HYBERN and fucking CASSIAN describe him as hot. And SJM does NOT want you to forget about him considering she kept finding reasons to fit him into a Nesta-Cassian centered book.

So hating/being indifferent to Lucien is like a double whammy: not only did you not read it through a critical lens (like us) but you didn't even read it the way SJM intended! So what the hell are you even doing buddy?

[bookishwithathought]

4 Books of Buildup is not something E/riels and E/riels alone get to claim.

Yes, there have been moments in ACOMAF through SF that put the idea of E/riel into your head. Feyre thinking on how "handsome" they'd be together (literally the most shallow reason in existence for someone pairing two people but I digress), Az helping Feyre rescue Elain in ACOWAR, him offering Elain TT, Az sitting with Elain and listening to her talk about her seeds in ACOFAS, their "charged" look in SF and depending on the day and argument, whether the BC counts, their near kiss.

Yet between every single one of those moments, there is another love for Elain or Az or both. Elain was in love with Graysen in ACOMAF through ACOFAS. Az was still hung up on Mor, even in SF. He was happy not to stay and guard Elain, later helped rescue Elain then went on to look at Mor with heat and yearning on Solstice. He gave Elain TT but only because Mor begged him to sit out of battle. He was relieved that he was not expected to get Elain a gift that first year.

In all of those 4 books though, Elain and Lucien are confirmed mates. Confirmed by the King, by Feyre, by Rhys, by Az, by Mor, by Elain, by Graysen, by Lucien, by Eris.

It is CANON that they are mates. The "4 books of E/riel moments" are canon too however it being love is heavily debated because neither Elain or Az have confirmed it to be that. There is NOTHING in canon that unequivocally states she wants a relationship with him, that she wishes he were her mate, that he is completely over Mor, that he would take Elain without a mating bond.

In comparison, there is CANON showing Elain and Lucien are mates. Lucien calls her his mate, Az confirms their bond can be scented, she makes sure Graysen knows Lucien's name when Graysen is referring to her mate, Lucien acknowledges the real thread between them and Elain confirms she felt it too.

Could SJM decide to pull a fast one over on us in the next book and reveal the mating bond as fake? Sure, because she can do whatever she wants as the author however at this point in time, Elucien being mates is more canon than E/riel actually being in love. And to those who claim Elucien's bond will turn out to be fake, that the 4 books of proof of an Elucien mating bond can easily be undone in the next ACOTAR, then can't we say the exact same of E/riel? That the 4 books of "open to interpretation" interactions of E/riel could also easily be undone (I think they kind of already were in the BC but that's another discussion).

If a storyline which was confirmed (once again) by Feyre, Rhys, Az, Cassian, Mor, the KoH, Eris, and the author herself in interviews can be magicked away after 4 books of Elain and Lucien's arcs being built around that narrative, that it could suddenly be proven as fake, then how is anyone arguing against how the unconfirmed love between E/riel (of which no characters are even aware of considering Nesta called Az Gwyn's new ribbon and Rhys told him to find a hooker instead) can be even more easily deconstructed?

If it's that easy to undo a confirmed mating bond then anything hinting at Elain and Az is a house of cards in comparison.

[bookishwithathought]

Lucien "I thought my mate was Jesminda but then she wasn't and now I have you" Vanserra

🤝

Elain "I thought I had true love with Graysen but it wasn't and now I have you" Archeron

[bookishwithathought]

Based on the information we have about lightsingers I answered no. Gwyn doesn’t match the description at all. There’s a lot we don’t know about Gwyn’s parentage and her powers/glow can be explained without making her evil, which lightsingers have been described to be. Stands to be seen how SJM writes her story.

[bookishwithathought]

{Day 7} Free Day: Friendship

@nestaarcheronweek

***The last slide contains (out of context) mild spoilers from CC3, House of Flame and Shadow.***

Internet was fighting me today, but I finally made this post happen.

Although I love our girls Gwyn and Emerie, I wanted to highlight the very underrated friendship between Nesta and Azriel by sharing moments between them. I’ve been looking forward to this day since the idea to focus on them came to mind.

I hope we get much more Nesta and Azriel friendship in future books.

Images: Pinterest

[bookishwithathought]

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

“Elain only stared at him for a long moment.”

*** “Elain only stared at him for a long moment.” ***

::: “Elain only stared at him for a long moment.” :::

[bookishwithathought]

My husband finally put into words for me something that has been the main problem with this whole Anti Gwynriel because of Gwyn's past narrative.

According to Anti's, it's not ok to ship Gwyn with Az because she's not healed enough and hasn't shown that she's ready for a relationship.

According to Anti's, fanart of Gwynriel in provocative positions are not appropriate because it's disrespectful to Gwyn due to her SA, that she needs to first give verbal consent before we're allowed to imagine what a HEA for Gwynriel might look like.

And at first, it almost feels like a gotcha for them because you question whether you're disrespecting real survivors by saying, "she doesn't need to give consent for us to ship them since it's a book." This statement is true, I don't think readers should be forced to abide by real world morals when it comes to possible paths a characters arc might take, however it makes you pause for a moment to question whether what you're saying is respectful to those who have been victims.

But he actually flipped that entire thing on it's head when he said, "if the issue is about consent, then why is only being applied to a SA victim? Shouldn't consent be applied to everyone?"

It was kind of a lightbulb moment for me because those Anti's never vocalize how it's wrong for people to ship Eris & Az, Mor & Emerie, Vassa & Lucien (SA victim), Lucien, Jurian & Vassa, the LoA & Helion (because at this point they are not a consenting pair), Nesta & Eris. There are a bunch of non canon, non consent ships in this series and nobody has an issue with those. Nobody takes up the crusade arguing that it's wrong for people in the fandom to imagine those pairings together or drawing fanart of them in NSFW positions. Most of the time they're celebrated but has Emerie consented to having a sexual relationship with Mor? All she did was call her beautiful and Feyre had done the same in ACOMAF. Why do they never call out fanart of that pairing? Or Neris after Nesta harshly rejected him? Where Eris is currently suffering torture at the hands of Beron and we've got no clue as to his sexual preference. Also, Elain only consented to a fully clothed kiss in the bonus, we have no evidence she wanted more yet there's plenty of NSFW E/riel artwork out there and I'm betting some existed before SF, before she even consented to a kiss.

The only time I've ever heard anyone argue for consent or argue against NSFW art is in relation to Az and Gwyn and the message they're sending is that only female characters who have been SA need to give consent before fans should be shipping them.

That's when the shipping agenda makes itself known because if no other non-canon / non-consenting pairing disturbs them to the point they need to create post after post surrounding how wrong people are for shipping them, then it's clear to see that it's only Gwyn being shipped with Az that they take issue with and when only E/riels make these arguments, it seems highly suspect.

Gwyn's SA is irrelevant in terms of consent because EVERYONE should have consent before engaging in physical acts with others no matter their past. However, Gwyn's SA should not be the weight dragging her character down, the scarlet letter on her chest that means the fandom isn't allowed to give her the same treatment that all other characters receive. Where we're free to imagine and create fanart / fanfiction / headcanons (even the NSFW variety) for any pairing that we desire, even those who have never expressed romantic interest towards one another, except for Gwyn.

Consent in the actual book will be important but consent having already been given in our imaginations so we can imagine possibilities beyond what is currently written is the right of any reader.