#not me wanting to post this on my insta story

[yazthebookish]

Maybe I'll spoil you guys and talk about Gwynriel and ACOTAR5 and anything related to it overall. I recently finished my HOFAS reread and have some fresh thoughts. I'll let my thoughts guide me and some of these points I've already addressed in my insta stories yesterday. I just rather share a lengthy post here since I'll only tag under #gwynriel.

I often see arguments about how Gwyn and Azriel can't move the plot forward because the series is centered on the Archeron sisters.

First, that's not true because Sarah is following what she called "a traditional romance route". She's following the same patterns of Nalini Singh, Kresley Cole, and Lisa Kleypas where they publish multiple books in the same series following different couples.

This is fitting for a series like ACOTAR because it's romance-centered. And Sarah have already said that each couple is getting one book and there will likely be more books beyond ACOTAR6.

Saying that doesn't dismiss the importance of the sisters to the story, Feyre already has a trilogy centered on her. The spin-off just follows different characters including the sisters.

I won't try hard to convince people on this because I've already posted almost everything Sarah said about the spin-off series and what's it's about. So if the next book is not centered on an Archeron sister, that's for Sarah to bamboozle the fandom with.

One thing that stuck out to me is when I compared the ending of ACOSF with the scene of Bryce giving Nesta Gwydion and seeming like she left Nesta with a new quest.

First, this is what the text says, and this is Chapter 80, the very last chapter in ACOSF:

Succeeding in the Blood Rite didn't mean the training stopped. No, after she and her friends told Cassian and Azriel most of the details of their ordeal, the two commanders had compiled a long list of mistakes that the three of them had made that needed to be corrected, and the others wanted to learn from them, too. So they would keep training, until they were all well and truly Valkyries. Gwyn, despite the Rite, had returned to living in the library.

1. The Valkyries are not yet a unit.

2. SJM only and specifically highlighted that Gwyn, despite the Rite, returned to living in the library. It was like "hey, remember all the talk Gwyn did about wanting to leave the library after two years? Yeah that's on hold a bit but keep that in mind". She didnt even add Emerie or the other priestesses to that sentence.

With Nesta being left with Gwydion to find out why the 8-pointed star was tattooed on her, I don't think the next book will start with "hey Elain take this sword and deal with it". Who are Nesta's main companions now? Gwyn and Emerie.

I'll be back to the Valkyries but let's just talk about Azriel for a bit.

It is so painfully obvious to me that Azriel is being handed the Illyrian plot on a golden platter. How big or small of a plot it is depends on SJM, but it's important based on the fact that she fleshed out the Illyrian's origins and tied them to the crossover AND making Truth-teller the knife of Enalius.

That is a big deal for an Illyrian like Azriel.

And I quote my friend Lacie on this, it is very poetic for Azriel to be the owner of the knife that originally belonged to the person who freed his own people from the Daglan's clutches, perhaps because he saw his people are more than just slaves to the Daglan—how powerful would it be for Azriel, who loathes his own people, to parallel Enalius.

And for years some people were against Azriel dealing with this plot because he shouldn't make peace with his "abusers", its true his own family and some Illyrians failed him but he is condemning an entire population. Good people like Emerie and Balthazar. Even Rhys's mother, who had valid reasons to hate her people especially as a female, still made sure to make Rhysand connect with his Illyrian heritage and he even goes on to say that his mother didn't forget what they did to her but still loved her people.

If both Cassian and Rhysand (and by extension the author) continue to flag Azriel's hatred of the Illyrians as an issue—then it is a damn big issue for it to be addressed repeatedly.

Okay so to address my final point about Gwyn and Azriel and how they can move the plot forward.

Now I didn't detail out much about what the next book will deal with because that's another post (and I already have a post on that).

All of our theories and predictions are based on information that is available to us. Saying Azriel and Gwyn cannot move the plot forward does not make any sense because the central plot is tied to multiple characters, Archeron or not.

If SJM wants to make a character move the next book's plot forward, she can do it because she's in control of the story. She's in control of the narrative. She's in control of the characters.

The characters are puppets and this is an unfinished story. If some characters would add more value and make for a more interesting story before the others, she can decide on that. If she wants to make Eris the protagonist of the next book, she can easily do that whether the fandom wants it or not.

Let me give you an example of minor characters that pushed the plot forward and became main characters: Yrene Towers and the Hind. These kind of arguments could've been used for them in HOEAB or HOSAB and Pre-TOD. Before HOSAB/HOFAS and TOD, could we have predicted that they would have played a crucial role before those books? Not likely because they had minimal appearances and were not part of the main cast. This is what I'm talking about.

You can't know how a character will contribute to a story until you see how it all unfolds. We can make guesses on the information we have which is why I believe three characters are likely to join the main cast: Gwyn, Emerie, and Eris.

Why is it so easy to accept that Emerie might be sharing a book with an original character like Mor but it's hard to comprehend the fact that Gwyn could also share a book with Azriel? Because Emerie showed up in ACOFAS? To me that's not really a strong argument based on Sarah's writing and what we have in the books, she doesn't really pick based on who showed up the earliest. Here's a good example: Hypaxia, who showed up earlier, didn't even get her own chapters but the Hind did.

And there's one argument I recall about how I need to rely on Nesta to have a plot focused on Gwyn or the Valkyries in the next book. Nesta's arc is clearly not over based on HOFAS, but does that mean she's getting a POV? Not necessarily. I don't think she is. Gwyn is the perfect candidate for us to see what's going on with Nesta post-HOFAS and how they all deal with the Valkyries and whatever Sarah will set up with them.

There is this whole Valkyrie/Illyrian conflict that could be triggered as a result of the Blood Rite, with Ramiel definitely being an important location to explore in the next book, we also have the Pegasi and the Prison and the implications of the crossover. It makes sense to have an Illyrian and a Valkyrie POV to deal with some plots in the next book.

"Gwyn contributes to nothing" we can't know until the book is out. How sure are we that maybe SJM won't connect her to the crossover by making her mysterious father a Worldwalker? Or Prince of Hel? Or an Asteri? Maybe I'm right maybe I'm wrong.

"But Koschei! And the Human Queens!" Koschei will always be a background player pulling on the strings until the final book as it's obvious he is the big bad in the series, unless someone even worse is revealed. But no one is dismissing Koschei or the Human Queens messing around.

Literally what's the point of the story or the fun elements of surprises or plot twists if you need Sarah to list down everything that the next books will deal with. That's not how a story develops to me. I don't need to know everything in advance to just know how it will go. That's like knowing spoilers early on and checking off with each book what happened and what didn't happen. I feel like it's close to how a lot of readers were disappointed with not having enough ACOTAR in HOFAS, because Sarah implied half of the book would be set in Prythian. So by the time the book came out and it wasn't that, people were vocal about it.

In my opinion, SJM set a good foundation for Gwyn's arc to build up on in ACOSF and her arc is not over. We won't get mentions of her still carrying the guilt of her sister's death or not leaving the library after she said she's sick of being there for two years without us seeing resolution for that. She wouldn't be in Azriel's bonus chapter if she is not involved with him.

To conclude, my reread still affirms to me that the next book with an Azriel/Gwyn book. Azriel is clearly being set in the forefront.

[cryptixotic]

Oh wow ! More than 2000 followers ? That's a lot - i'm afraid i won't have enough snacks to share with all of you... I think i say it a little too often but tumblr is a website i enjoy a lot - without a doubt my favorite place to post my drawings (so i'm sort of thrilled it's where most of my followers are :D). I read and treasure every tag left on them - you're all too nice and funny :'( Thank you for your likes, reblogs, kind words and slightly unhinged tags - I will most definitely keep on drawing various creatures and things with far too many details :^)

[mazzy-rockstar]

Monday blues are hitting me hard today

[derpy-thebdayclown]

miaz/diaz doodles because. Because ❤️

I love them all btw (piroska will always be my gal tho)

[wherethewaterstarts-andyouend]

Never getting over The Bad List by Z Berg and Ryan Ross.

[soliddaddy96]

give me 6 hours to play ultra kill and ill spend the first 5 beating it to gabriel

[creamiceandsugar]

the way i have thought about trafalgar law such an ungodly amount that like. the brain worms have come up with headcanons and i am becoming so delusional im like no it's canon dont you know. like. ofc law doesnt kill people look he's being haunted by the memory of all the people he killed as a child in his anger he literally named his sword after them. and i wont even pause to explain how tf i came to all these conclusions but i promise you they make so much sense to me.

me, delirious: the heart pirates did so much PR to not let it slip that law is a big softie he literally is a doctor look listen to me he reclaimed his parent's legacy and has a sword that doesnt cut and an ability that cant kill and you mean to tell me th-

[dollar-store-sparklez]

i miss dominion smp :(

[officialkendallroy]

straight girls are so insane they'll literally sob and cry and be upset over some guy who treated them like actual dog shit and has a receding hairline at the age of 25

[moinsbienquekaworu]

Also. The weird girl in school feeling of both intense jealousy and violent repulsion towards "normal" girls.

[yaboisnelf]

sometimes some guy has to turn off his hearing aid and sit in an alley for a bit yk

monthly post <3

[iman-92]

at the risk of sounding like an aunty. why do randoms (of all genders and romantic and non romantic interest) ask you for your IG just to watch your story religiously and literally never interact with you . what happened to being SOCIAL! and friendly! some people make me feel like i’m under surveillance.

[lordgolden]

I hate you Instagram I hate you presenting a curated perfect life online I hate you competing with friends and peers in the Fake Life competition I hate you filters I hate you FaceApp I hate you I hate you. die

[miutonium]

I already mentioned this on my twitter before but thought I just wanna add it here lol so if any of you guys followed my art ig, you might notice that I closed off all of my replies, comments and dms and that's because I keep getting unwarranted dms but more importantly there is this one person on insta that i think is a bit....odd.

So there's this person that keeps following and then unfollowing me either hours or days later. Normally I won't notice this because I don't check on people's profile but the reason I remember this is because this person tried reaching to me before. Basically they said they were glad they found someone that likes professor and starts dumping to me about how they likes him ever since they were a kid and then they're married to Utonium.

First of all, yes, I am totally fine with sharing. But you have to agree with me that saying "Oh you like the fictional character that I liked? Thats so cool omg btw we are married before you know him" as if you are claiming that character first is weird. And second, I barely talk about my selfship, I only post my art. At least if you want to talk to me, don't open with something like "I'm Utonium's wife." Like ???? That is weird are you trying to assert dominance on me???

Anyway I didn't bother to reply to them and for the next few weeks they reply to my stories occassionally just to try and see if I will reply but of course I didn't reply so their last reply were "Hello?" And I don't get any dms from them anymore.

After that I keep seeing their acc following and unfollowing me and usually I will block immediately because it's always safe than sorry but whenever I want to do so their acc just gone so I didn't manage to do that so now the only way for me to keep myself safe is to just shut down all means of communication.

Anyway I am still okay with sharing just that I wish people have manners and try to talk to me normally instead of immediately trying to assert your ship to me lol I swear I am fine and if I'm nice enough I will literally draw the shared f/o and you for free because I want to but like if you creep me out, chances are I wont talk to you and probably block you lol

[harrowharkwife]

x

[vulpinesaint]

for the song ask game! “creature” by half•alive, ESPECIALLY “i am creation, both haunted and holy”

answering this after DAYS dear god sorry anon dfkgjhs

see you're so fucking right about that one line it makes me go crazy HOWEVER. the rest of the song is religious for real and the thought putting myself in the hands of the creator makes me want to crawl out of my fucking skin. nothing you could have known dfkghs i just have extreme discomfort with open professions of love and trust in god </////3 activates the fight or flight for some reason. you're so correct though i am haunted and holy creation vibes on tumblr for real