#tag yourself sjm

[animezinglife]

Kallias and Viviane visiting the Summer Court

[literaryhottie]

One of my friends made this. Tag urself I’m A Dance of Frost and Faeries

[azsazz]

Bloody Knuckles and the Songs of Death

Azriel x Reader

Summary: This lovely piece stemmed from me thinking about how SJM describes Azriel’s voice in the High Lord meeting as “cold death.” It got me thinking that if he’s cold death what if reader is warm death? She is the last hug someone receives before their soul is entrapped in death’s icy snare. She’s the last breath exiting someone’s lungs, the heat of the final exhale passing through their parted lips. She’s the heat of their blood as it spills through split skin and that warm hand cradling their hands as they bleed out.

Reader is everything that Azriel is not. Opposite feelings but equal death in the end.

AKA: Half a rewrite of chapters 43-47 of ACOWAR where reader is now there as part of the Autumn Court, excited to meet Azriel. The other half are my own ideas.

Warnings: Major themes of death, ACOWAR spoilers, blood, gore, mentions of abuse, smut.

Word Count: 1,987

Notes: Sorry about the long summary, but I felt it was necessary to help understand where this came from before reading it. Yes, this will be multiple parts :)

_________________________________________

The Vanserras are late. Undoubtedly and uncaringly late.

You don’t see why it matters, anyway. You certainly aren’t one to concern yourself with matters involved in other courts unless you’re asked. But when Eris had come to you with a request on behalf of the High Lord of the Autumn Court, to tag along to some High Lord’s meeting – the first in nearly three centuries – you could hardly contain the feral grin threatening to carve your face in two.

For you it is a chance to play.

The Vanserra family is silent as you’re escorted through the lavish halls of the Dawn Court.

It’s incredible, what you’ve seen so far, glimpses from the windows of the High Lord’s palace. Your first time to the solar court, and you drink in everything that you can. The cobalt sky tinged by the rosy pinks and creamy oranges, the remnants of sunrise long into the day, the edges of the low hanging clouds gilded with golden light. Dewey freshness lingers in the air, lush with the evocative scents of rain in the countryside, the weight of the summer nearly upon it.

Inhaling deeply, your eyelashes flutter as you listen to the clatter in the meeting room as you approach, your senses nearly overwhelmed by all of the different scents winding together. There’s the one you’re most familiar with, the crisp wind and singed spices of Autumn, but as you part your lips to taste the other aromas in the air, you pick out the subtle tinges of the rival courts: sandalwood and coconut oil from the Summer Court, seawater and clean clothes billowing in the breeze from Day. The overpowering perfume of vanilla that coats your throat thickly followed by the melancholic neutral cold breath that stings your lungs is most definitely the Winter Court.

And of course, the intoxicating night-chilled mist wafting from the Night Court fae, who sit up straighter in their chairs when you enter the room following Beron, his wife, and his sons.

But even sweeter than that, underneath all of the niche and savory odors, is the scent of life.

You see they’ve brought a whole committee, the Night Court. Unsurprising for their High Lord, who always has one of his pets do his bidding for him, not a wrinkle to be had to be put into his pressed suit if he had to help it. Why get all messy when he could have someone do it for him?

You. That is who you are to the Vanserras. Someone to torture and kill for information, just like his spymaster, minus the protective shadows hovering over his shoulders like warped darkness that follows you around at night, always watching and always listening.

The difference is…is that you love death.

You are death…in a way.

Just like him, who sits next to the cocksure commander of armies, behind his Lord and–Lady, you now realize as you catch sight of their clasped hands, the gleaming ring settled snugly around Feyre’s left ring finger, a matching one on Rhysand’s. 

Your gaze travels across them in an instant, and theirs over you. There’s a shift as they assess you, in line with Eris, following closely behind Beron and Amaretto. Perhaps they think you’re Eris’ mate. That would surely be something, you think. You can practically see the gears grinding in their minds as they scramble to figure out who you are, and you know it’s because no one has ever seen you before, Beron wouldn’t ever let someone close enough to recognize you. 

You recognize the familiar glazed look they get over their eyes when they speak into each other’s minds, and then there’s a caress of claws inside of your head, gentle at first, but a slash when it’s met with nothing but resistance, your walls reinforced over years of practice. It’s a warning, a scare tactic, but you are anything but intimidated by the Night Court High Lord and his comrades. 

You commit everything to memory in the quick once over you give, eyes eager to settle back upon the shadowisnger. The jeweled crown upon Feyre’s head, the female behind her with the near-matching facial structure. Lovely Mor is here, too, going stock still as her chocolatey gaze locks on Eris before she’s looking anywhere but.

Your mouth twitches into a wry smirk that the spymaster immediately zeroes in on, clenching his hands where they’re settled on his knees, his gaze fiery and his siphons flickering.

Azriel, the male who separates souls from bodies without so much as a grimace, a blink, a quiver to his perfectly straight lips.

He is breathtaking in more ways than one. The sharpness of his golden gaze as he glares at you from his seat, like he’s ready to wreak death upon you with those large, icy, massacred hands just itching to wrap around your warm throat, watch the light drain from your pretty eyes, the color empty from your lips, face, your body going slack in his grasp.

His wings. They look how you’d imagine an angel’s would, if they had betrayed the Mother and had been touched by flame, the delicate and purely white feathers singed and burnt from the skin and bones beneath, much like the pink and puckered scars adorning his fingers to his wrists.

The Reaper.

The Taker of Death.

But you are the Bringer of Death. The warmth of it all. The last hug one receives before the Reaper swoops their soul into his icy snare. You are the last breath exiting one’s lungs, the heat of that final exhale plating their parted lips. You’re the swelter of their blood as it spills through split skin and the burning one feels in their heart when they realize they’re in love and that searing in their stomachs when they feel sick.

You are everything that he is not. Opposites in feeling but equals in the end.

To you, death is a beautiful thing. Intriguing, evoking, fascinating. 

To Azriel, death is anything but. A finite solution to seek information. Routine and cold and inevitable and lonely.

The violence simmering off of the Night Court party as you enter through the archway is not new, their harsh stares a reminder that you need to be alert, on your game, not itching with intrigue about the male you’d heard so much about.

Autumn Court’s presence alone is enough to make the Peregryns feathers ruffle, the remaining sons sneering at the Court with the most strained ties. The Vanserra offspring are a rowdy bunch, you’ve known that for centuries, have often been on the other side of the leer Pyrolas sends to Cresseida, earning a flash of teeth in warning from Varian.

Beron doesn’t bother to check them. Perhaps he likes having most of the other courts dislike him, letting his kin do as they please like half-wild beasts.

But Eris cares, a sweet soul trapped in a tainted family, of that you know. He is the one you prefer, the most emotionally intelligent, even if only in private. Your best friend, the one you’d run to after a long day of working for his father, someone who understands and you trust with any secret, with your life.

“Enough,” Eris murmurs and his younger brothers finally fall into line. All three of them; Pyrolas, Oakland, and Foxe.

Beron stops halfway across the room, hands folded before him. Even from where you’re positioned behind you know that he’s scowling at the Night Court attendees like they’re a pack of mongrels.

He is the oldest here, and the most awful, something that you and all of the other Courts can agree on.

Rhysand greets the Vanserras smoothly, eyes drifting over you as if you aren’t even there, though you know that he’s seen a lot with that fluttering glance. His power is heavy in the air, a silent rumble that serves as a reminder of the magic coursing through his veins.

As if he’d ever let anyone forget it.

“It’s no surprise that you’re tardy, given that your own sons were too slow to catch my mate. I suppose it runs in the family.”

Beron’s lips curl slightly as he looks her over, at the onyx clad crown settled upon her head.

“Mate–and High Lady.”

You had to give it to Feyre. You’ve seen many balk from Beron’s hot stare more times than you can count, but she looks everything that Rhysand has just said, High Lady, as she sits in her chair as if she’s the one running all of the overinflated egos in the room, spine straight, chin high, and face neutral in the same way that Azriel’s is.

She turns her gaze to each of Beron’s sons. Eris smiles, amused and aloof before Feyre’s sharp gray eyes flicker to you.

If Eris is smiling, you’re practically glowing, eager to see where this meeting will go, if you’ll get to play or not. Your power thrums beneath your skin, a fervent buzz begging to be unleashed.

The red siphon-clad warrior watches Eris like a hawk studying its next meal. Eris deigns a glance at the Illyrian general and inclines his head in invitation, subtly patting his stomach. Ready for round two.

You stifle the urge to roll your eyes at your friend. He’d told you all about what had happened on that ice when he and his brothers were chasing the female they hadn’t known was the High Lady of the Night Court, animatedly telling you of the battle you wished you’d been there to witness, and grumbling through the parts of the story when the Illyrian had landed a hit on him as you dabbed at his wounds with a healing salve.

You’d even been there to hold him when he whispered so softly about his youngest brother that you were half sure he was delusional from blood loss or that you hadn’t even heard.

You cringe when Eris’ attention shifts to Mor, knowing all about what transpired between the two centuries ago. His caramel gaze sweeps over her with a disdain that makes Feyre’s eyes narrow in anger.

The blonde only stares blankly at him. Bored.

You bite back the twitch of your lips and notice Viviane doing the same.

So more than just a few of you know what had been done.

Azriel sits so still in his chair you aren’t sure the stone-faced male is even breathing as you sit in your chair to Eris’ left, settling into the plush cushion that faces the Night Court members.

Thesean, your Dawn Court host, begins. “Rhysand, you have called this meeting. Pushed us to gather sooner than we intended. Now would be the time to explain what is so urgent.”

Rhysand takes his time, blinking slowly before he responds, “Surely the invading armies landing on our shores explain enough.”

“So you have called us to do what, exactly?” Helion challenges, bracing his forearms on his muscled, gleaming thighs. “Raise a unified army?”

“Among other things,” Rhys says mildly, in a way that irks you. If he has such pressing matters then why isn’t he getting to the point? “We–”

His words falter as power crackles through the chamber. Everyone falls silent and the scent of spring prickles your nostrils, evading your senses as it sweeps through the room on a pollen-filled gust. Something about it is too sweet, too flowery, too potent, nearly choking you as the beast himself prowls in through the doors, later than your court had been.

Tamlin.

He enters the room alone, like a crack of lightning, winnowing into the chamber, gaze directed at Feyre, smiling like a wolf.

You and Eris share a glance, his face impassive, cool, but you catch the amusement glittering in his copper gaze, the slight curve of his mouth as the air drains from the room and the shields surrounding every High Lord and their courtiers locks into place.

[danikamariewrites]

You write for all SJM characters, right? Can I please request something fluffy with Ithan? :)

Come to Bed Baby

Ithan x reader

A/n: poor Ithan gets no love and he needs it, he’s been through A LOT

Warnings: none

You jolted awake sucking in a harsh breath. Sitting in bed you gripped the sheets to get your bearings. Taking a few deep breathes you told yourself over and over again that your dream wasn’t real. It wasn’t a nightmare, it was just a really odd dream. Like one of those weird, brightly colored horror movies.

Shaking your head you look to Ithan’s side of the bed hoping to find him sleeping peacefully. You sigh, disappointed you couldn’t cuddle up to your boyfriend. You look at the clock on his bedside table which reads 2:30 AM.

You only came upstairs at midnight. Ithan must still be playing video games with the Flynn and Ruhn. Throwing the covers back you climb out of bed, padding across the room to grab Ithan’s Sunball hoodie that you’ve now claimed as yours and head downstairs.

You silently creep down the stairs, pausing when you see Ithan on the couch. He’s laughing with Ruhn and Flynn, controller in hand as he stares intensely at the giant TV screen. You smile to yourself. You’re so happy to see him smile. Ithan was lost and sad for a long time after Connor died.

Once Bryce was back in his life Ruhn basically took Ithan in and he became part of the Frat Pack. They might never fill the hole Connors death left in his heart, but those three are dam good surrogate brothers.

As you lean on the railing the old wood creaked under your weight. The three males’ attention snaps to you and your cheeks heat. Ithan smiles at you handing the controller over to Flynn who wiggles his eyebrows at him. “Baby what are you doing up?”

You pad down the rest of the stairs, over to the couch, and into Ithan’s open arms. Sitting on his lap he kisses your cheek. “I thought you were going to bed?” He whispered in your ear. “I had a weird dream. I couldn’t go back to sleep without you.” You whisper back.

Pulling away from his neck you give him a fake pout. “Will you please come to bed with me? I can’t sleep without you squishy.” Ithan goes crimson at the nickname. Ruhn is kind enough to hold back his laugh, even though it’s a piss poor attempt. Flynn on the other hand cackles repeating the nickname.

Ithan stares him down borderline growling at the Fae lordling. You giggle at him. Ithan quickly stands bidding his friends goodnight, carrying you bridal style back to bed.

He throws you on the bed earning another giggle from your lips. He strips down to his boxers and slips under the covers next to you. Ithan wraps his arms around you, pulling you to his bare chest, cradling your head and stroking your hair.

“Better?” You let out a hum. “Much. Sorry if I embarrassed you squishy.” Ithan let’s out a breathy laugh. “You could never embarrass me baby.” He kisses the crown of your head whispering, “Get some sleep baby. I’ll be here all night.”

Your eyes shut, heavy with sleep. Ithan heard your breathing even out and he smiled down at you. He was so in love with you and would do anything to make you happy. Even letting you call him squishy in front of his friends.

tags: @rigelus @nyotamalfoy @auggiesolovey @bubybubsters @baybay123455 @msiecrane @aroseinvelaris @twsssmlmaa

[ofbreathandflame]

im sorry im breaking my anti fast for this bc its literally the most idiotic thing i have ever seen.

"some people hate sjm for the racism in her books"

yeah NO SHIT.

that has always been the point.

thats literally the entire point of being anti sjm posts. thats literally all we talk about in the anti tags. but shortsightedness and an unhealthy relationship with these characters has always blinded y'all to that fact.

you see this is why i could not stomach conversations because you guys constantly make a mockery of the problems in sjm's work and only acknowledge the problems for a 'gotcha' moment. EVERY SINGLE TIME we have talked about how the racism in sjm's work affects the writing of her characters you guys have made it into an anti feysand problem, and by doing that you have willingly separated yourself from the problems in the story. the reality is that the racism affects the way these characters are written -- including your favs. do not dare twist the main message of antis to fit some twisted little point you want to make toward specific blogs. i have been on my last account for over two years and EVERY TIME i -- or any anti -- has talked about the way sjm's racism bleeds onto the text we have been undermine, ran off our blogs, sent hate mail. so yeah it pisses me off to no end to be sent the dumbest post in the anti tags to ever exist. yall do not care about her racism, her misogynoir. if you did, you wouldn't be calling people brain dead for daring to dislike your favorite ship for valid reason -- i.e. the racism. we talked about the complexities of how racist the portrayal of the illyrians were -- and we were dismissed as anti feysand and therefore 'braindead.' we talked about the way women of color and the allusions of FGM (female genital mutilation)-- and we were called anti feysands and then dismissed. stay out of the anti tags -- especially if you are the ones perpetuating these dynamics. i was ran off my blog for discussing these issues for two years. y'all sent hate mail, called me tamlin stan -- called others tamlin stans -- for even daring to discuss the racism in sjm works. that's not even touching the nehemia situation, or crescent city. fuck off the tags. you literally have a blog dedicated to this woman and her racist ass characters, you shoot down any criticism of them because of it, and then yall have the nerve to come into the tags for the some hehe hahah tamlin stan bs??? double fuck off. the anti sjm tag has always been a place for that criticism. always.

addition: and these problems are not just valid when discussing characters you don't like. the illyrians are written to brutes, with the bat boys operating as the 'model minority'. the story justifies the lack of infrastructure, and the misogyny (misogynoir depending on how you classify illyrian women), the lack of progress.

'its a culture problem'

'rhysand has tried, but they wont listen'

like do you know how crazy it is to write a group of people as permanently mentally stunted? to classify their women as nameless entities that our main character can shift in and out of to satisfy her supposed 'man of color' sexually? feyre cosplays as a woman of color for SEX, meanwhile in FIVE BOOKS we've met one named illyrian woman and shes described 'interesting,' but not as pretty as opposed to nesta and gwyn, mor, and feyre who are the prettiest people to walk the earth. that don't sound CRAZY to yall??? these people of color are left without leadership, without infrastructure, no access to a golden city, no access to their high lord, are forced to breed out warriors who live and die without ever getting to enjoy the city of velaris, the house of wind for survivors. all of that so that the maincharacters can live out that power fantasy. its racist. thats what it is. please think consider reading comprehension b4 yall make these gotcha posts because it really stinks of weirdness.

the illyrians are treated like rabid animals by their leaders, by everyone and then the responsibility is on them to somehow progress when everyone is unwilling to give them nothing more than scraps. like there's a real life counterpart to this, and yall arguments are very real and very damaging.

they are written by the author to be a permanent second class deserving of their position because they're minds somehow cannot comprehend any 'progression.' all of these characters including rhysand, feyre, mor, az, cassian, tamlin, nesta say racist things toward them because THE NARRATIVE thinks they're justified in saying them. like the moralizing is wild in this case bc all of them are allowed to get away with it. its not just tamlin or nesta, not just the valkyries (which is an ENTIRELY different scenario btw). like the idea that all of the bad can be ascribed to the 'bad' characters and the 'good' characters somehow don't feed into those racist tropes is WILD. rhysand literally told us -- the reader -- the in the war against slaves and their oppressors somehow it was an equal battle. like?????? somehow 'both sides were at fault' ignoring that one side WAS LITERALLY SLAVES. like can u imagine if someone looked at the Haitian revolution and was like....yeah the side of the oppressors was somehow on equal footing when the other side WAS ENSLAVED? how can u acknowledge this author is racist and then pretend that the racism only bleeds over to the characters you *shockingly* don't like?? yes -- there is a problem with feyre wearing illyrian wings BECAUSE SHES THE HIGH LADY. she made herself that title. of course that carries a different weight. the racism is ingrained in the text, not just some little trinket to flash when you want to moralize bullying a small group of people with strawman arguments.

[wolfnesta]

It’s just irksome when I see some takes get completely misunderstood

• ‘the IC is 500 so? nesta is 25 she’s an adult’- the point is that the 500 year olds are living and have lived with their trauma for much longer and should have more knowledge on these things. Not only because of that but because as leaders I would think they would know how to handle these things in regards to people living in their court but as the CoN members indicate, they don’t. But Mor said Nesta would ‘thrive’ so that makes it totally okay. Wtf??

• ‘Pointing fingers at Rhys every time Nesta does something bad is all they do’- acting like stanning Feyr.e and tolerate Rhys by extension is fine but proceeding to dedicate almost every other post to go on and on dissing Nesta is just plain shallow and hypocritical. They can dislike Nesta all they want but if they can’t keep the same energy towards other characters in the name of Fey.re mistreatment then I 🙃 can’t take them seriously. But it’s okay I get theyre just a victims of the narrative

• ‘Rhys doesn’t even want to be high king how is everyone so mad at him’- what Rhys wants or not isn’t the problem it’s this agenda that keeps getting shoved about how Rhys is so good. Which might well end up happening because of it. And that’s the problem. Because why try to make him morally grey then go on and on about how amazing and kind and ✨hurt✨ and ✨misunderstood✨ he is.

• ‘People believe head canons are canon/Interpretation aren’t canon’- as maybe it’s been noted by now in this rant canon is the problem. If someone has emotions for certain characters wether good or bad all of them are valid because like it’s literally a human right to express yourself. The unpopular part of our interpretation is that it seems sjm specifically fashioned her work so specific characters can be hated then ‘redeemed’ and because of this ended up having half of us see her mcs are actually quite crappy and her side ones don’t align with half the punishments they keep getting, which I mean— if seeing those interpretations bothers someone I recommend just blocking or filtering a tag it’s actually quite simple. Which takes me to my next point though

• ‘Just because Nesta has a reason to be bitchy doesn’t make it right/Nesta’s wrongs keep getting compared to others’- it’s ironic to hear this because this logic is exactly why I dislike the IC. The ‘comparisons’ are moments of examples. Take the HoW Elain visit scene. She happily comes by to see Nesta to explain things which is really nice of her right? despite not being present to show this support during Nesta’s intervention, but wait, Nesta walked by her once in the street without acknowledging her while she was going through depression but remember thats no excuse for Nesta to do this, which right, but So Why doesn’t the same logic apply here to Elain though? The intervention was done abrasively as it was but because they love her despite her being a bitch and so Nesta deserves this mistreatment in the name of tough love! What happened to the reason isn’t excuse logic? Then word for word proceeds to tell her not to act so miserable. People are set up to believe this idea through the entire series that Nesta is cruel and more so in acosf because Nesta says this herself and oh good lord 🙄 let’s only remember the parts where it was super evil of Nesta to blame Elain about their dead father let’s completely forget the completely offhand comment Elain had just made and not just in the visit but the complete disregard of her during the intervention. And remember reason doesn’t equal excuse. But apparently that logic only applies to Nesta. Then to proceed to say Nesta isnt even ‘trying’ and still see Nesta as the only mean one here blows my mind. Let me make sure it’s understood— this is not a comparison about Elain vs Nesta it’s the fact Nesta is portrayed as cruel and any trauma or reason behind her actions are still inexcusable and also proceed to make any mistreatment of her warranted. Where is the reason isn’t excuse logic for her?! Yet she keeps getting this trauma invalidation by the fandom left and right?? And it’s justified to mistreat her?? How this narrative can go on and on for the whole book and readers actually believe it is beyond me.

Just to name a few.

Nesta’s story was falsely advertised as a healing journey when really what we kept getting was a character that kept getting exploited over and over. The character trait that set her aside and made her so beloved to us fans was handled awfully and perhaps readers that don’t understand Nesta will never understand.

And I’m tagging every anti tag so if you come across this and feel offended then maybe you should learn to filter

[fieldofdaisiies]

SJM Romance Week Day 3: Honeymoon

Elain x Lucien

I am almost 100% positive that Lucien would take Elain to the continent to visit the flower fields as a honeymoon destination.

“Breathtaking,” Elain whispers, her voice a breathy whisper when her eyes move over the landscape covered in the most beautiful flowers. She draws in a deep inhale, a floral, earthy scent filling her nostrils. “Talking about yourself?” Arms sneak around her waist and Elain is pulled back against Lucien's solid chest, marveling in the feel of his warmth enveloping her. He kisses her shoulder softly, his head resting in the crook of her neck. The Archeron sister gives her eyes a tiny roll, but cannot avoid the grin from spreading over her whole face, her heart beating frantically against her ribcage. “Maybe I was talking about you?” A delighted rumble leaves Lucien at that and he kisses his mate’s neck, drawing in her scent of jasmine, honey and spices and loving how she still shudders when he kisses her sensitive spots.

They will spend a great time walking through and exploring the flower fields, taking about everything and anything and really getting to know each other more and more. They will soon find out about their similarities and will fall in love over and over again.

We are talking about our male with the fire in his veins, so obviously they will be making love, they will be making love a lot

Maybe even in those oh so wonderful flower fields?

“So indecent!” Elain expresses, her reprimand quickly cut off by a moan that leaves her throat. Rolling around in the flower fields, pollen and dust sticking to their skin and clothes when their bodies come together. The sun sets during their love making, but before night falls they return to their private rooms to continue there.

because obviously, as Lucien is a male of manners, his preferred place to make love to his mate is their bed in the small house they have rented for their honeymoon

And they will spend a lot of time there, because how should one of them be able to keep their hands of the other for longer than five minutes? Two minutes actually.

Her body covered in a thin film of sweat and one hand placed over her forehead, Elain drops onto the mattress and expresses a loud sigh. “Six times. Six times in one night. I…I don’t feel my legs anymore, Lu.” The male next to her chuckles, his deep tenor reverberating through Elain and making her toes curl once again. “Would you prefer seven times?” Lucien rolls over and kisses the top of Elain’s head. She giggles loudly and pulls her mate to her chest. “I love you. I love you. I love you so much!” she expresses loudly and squeezes the fiery male to her body. 

They will also dine in the most amazing restaurants and eat the most delicious meals and obviously Lucien always tells Elain that the meals are good but her meals are at least ten times better

Their evenings they will also often spend at the beach, sitting in the sand, chatting, cuddling, kissing, laughing

while their days are often filled with strolls through the city, some window shopping, walks into one of the amazing forests

just enjoying time together

@sjmromanceweek thank you for hosting this event💛

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

tags: @rippahwrites @shadowhunter2003 @my-inner-crisis @ladyelain @acourtofthought @itwasalwaysaboutthetea @multifictional  @moonlightazriel @aayo-whatt @brekkershadowsinger 

[shadowsxgwynriel]

Ways to make the fandom more peaceful for yourself:

• Filter your tags

• Don’t be afraid to block toxic people

• Keep in mind that any and all ships can be a possibility until SJM announces otherwise

• Have fun and remember that these are only fictional characters

[writingsbychlo]

🌸 If you get this, answer with 3 random facts about yourself and send it to the last 7 blogs in your notifications, anonymously or not! Let's get to know the person behind the blog. 🌸

how far into ToD are you? things get really interesting, i promise <3

hello sweetie!! I am like 50% of the way into it now and admittedly it is better than the beginning but it still feels very slow moving, y’know? like this book is nearly 700 pages and everything could’ve been wrapped up in 300 easy as a fast-paced book!

as for the facts;

I’m eating some soup right now

My reading goal for this year is 100

I have a wax melts/candle obsession

I don’t know who’s in my notifs so I’ll just tag a couple people!

@azsazz @acourtofwhatthefuck @greeneyedivy @azrielscrown 🤍

also a side note about TOG: what is with all the unnecessary relationships SJM builds? like what was the point of celeana and dorian? literally no plot purpose, honestly would’ve been better if they’d just become really good friends. like best friends. and chaol and nesryn for what? served 0 purpose in the end. again, would’ve been better as just a really good friendship!

[acourtofthought]

I just came across something in the Pro Elain tag that almost looked like it was a rebuttal to my post (or maybe someone else's?) about the lack of depth Elain and Az have in their conversations as well as the fact that Elain and Az don't really challenge one another.

Which I still stand by. After two years, they still tiptoe around one another and speak with uncertainty which should not be the case if you've actually had meaningful conversations which leads to a real connection. They should be greeting one another with enthusiasm and a level of comfort.

Elain doesn't push Az to discuss anything that makes him uncomfortable and Az is the same with Elain. And no, those beautiful, in depth discussions would absolutely not happen off page if we were meant to see them falling for one another. No SJM main couple has ever fallen in love "off page" but apparently Az and Elain are the first? I don't buy that.

The post went on to say that Az has lied to Gwyn during conversation while he's never lied to Elain.

To that, I say au con·traire.

Az's entire personality around Elain is basically a lie. He's so sweet and gentle and polite with her, right? Yet that's not who Az is. Az scares Rhysand sometimes. I think there are over 10 references throughout the series as to the rage that exists within him. Rage that comes out around every other member of the IC BUT Elain though Rhys is still the only one who really understands the depths of it.

Az also waits until Elain leaves the room to really say what he thinks because he's not capable of telling her to her face. For two people who are apparently so comfortable around one another, he can't look her in the eye and mention that he doesn't like the idea of her going after the Trove? That's a lot bigger of a deal to me than a little white lie from telling someone you're just getting to know that your night was "fine" because you're not prepared to unload the fact that your High Lord pulled rank on you because you were about to make out with a female with a mate in the house who you couldn't even admit to having feelings for beyond your sexual fantasies but were prepared to risk a political alliance over because you're bummed out you didn't get to complete the trifecta of three brothers with three sisters.

I'm not saying Az can't be full of rage and also sweet but the fact is, he's not just one thing or the others. He's a combination of things yet he only shows the best parts of himself to Elain and that's not love. Love is opening yourself up and letting someone see the good, the bad, and the ugly.

An article from Psychology Today states:

"Most people begin their dating relationships by putting their proverbial “best foot” forward. We do this to entice the other person to like us and possibly fall for us. If the relationship succeeds the courtship typically declines over time as the routine sets in. The months may turn into years and eventually one or both people may claim, “You’re not who I thought you were.” Of course not, how can we possibly know each other when we’re selectively hiding particular aspects of our being?"

That's exactly what's going on with E/riel. Az is absolutely hiding a big part of himself from Elain and it's insane to think the little white lie he told Gwyn is a bigger deal than his entire situation with Elain.

[readychilledwine]

bestie i need some encouragement? or maybe advice? idk

i’m 28, i haven’t written anything seriously since i was 17/18. I used to write fanfic and original short stories, i’m not even positive i’d be any good at it anymore. but lately i’ve been *aching* to write fanfic again.

How do you get the courage to post something you’ve written? How do I even know if it’s any good? if my idea is something others would even want to read? i have basically 0 followers, which i know is where we all start out and there’s no shame in that, but even if i did post something - i have no reach

i’ve written essentially a small prologue to an ACOTAR fic i’ve had in my mind for AGES but i’m not even sure if it’s worth posting to see if anyone else would be interested in where the story goes 😞

and idk why i’m coming to you with this - you seem like a safe place and i also just love your writing so much 🥹

Our stories are so similar 🥺🥺 so first, thank you! I'm glad you're here and like my writing! Second, I'm always open to giving advice.

I wish I had some big story on how I got my courage to post, but I really don't. My first post to the ACOTAR fandom was Enough, and to be frank, I queued it and then turned notifications off for the night and took a nap. Having that security blanket of knowing it was up but sleeping through its first few hours being up helped a lot. I had planned on taking it down if it did poorly. Fast forward to us now being here.

I didn't know if it was good, I didn't know if people would want to read it, but I knew I wanted to post it because maybe there was one other person out there who needed to pretend Rhysand was telling them they were enough for him, that they were perfect as they were, and that he loved them. I woke up shocked to more than just one person saying it hit home for them.

I'll be honest, 90% of the things I post, I think, aren't great and will flop. I read so many other blogs and think, "These are the writers I'm being compared to, and I can't hold a candle." Sadly, that's a mindset all creative people have. My only advice is to try to remember your house stands on its own foundation. Give yourself grace and remember you are doing this as a creative and healthy outlet for you.

It is really cheesy, but SJM putting that, "Our stories are worth telling," line into ACOSF applies to so much more than just our life stories. It applies to your fanfiction idea, to the one shot you have hidden away, and to the original character who carries a piece of you with them. I promise you someone wants to read it. If you are proud of it, post it. We're all here and ready for new stories and content all the time 💕

Feel free to message me. I can be a little difficult to get a hold of sometimes with my munchkin being a bit more lively these days, but I will get back to you. Also, tag me if you post your prologue ♥️

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

9 Fandom Peeps To Get To Know Better

I was tagged by @emilykaldwen, @godswood-girl, & @rainwingmarvel7 , lmao thanks guys

3 Ships You Like: Starkpoole, Rhaenicent, & Nedbert (fellas, is it gay to call your bestie "muscled like a maiden's fantasy" when you're both men?)

First Ship Ever: Bro, I literally have no idea. I never did a lot of shipping when I was younger (call that being aroace "they're just besties" pilled). Maybe NaruHina? I think that might be the first thing I got really into outside of "this is definitely obvious endgame" stuff

Last Song You Heard: Inkpot Gods by The Amazing Devil

Favorite Childhood Book: Big Chronicles of Narnia kid, huge. I still reread the books sometimes. My favorites were always The Magician's Nephew, The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, & The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Currently Reading: Fire & Blood by GRRM, & Throne Of Glass by SJM (one of these is definitely better than the other, but I am making fun of both. F&B isn't bad, but it is comical how hard it tries to make One-gon look like a Gigachad)

Currently Watching: 1670, Inuyasha, Sanrio Boys, & AOT

Currently Consuming: Water

Currently Craving: the Robert Eggers Nosferatu remake to come out already

Idk who to tag, so if you see this & want to do it, consider yourself tagged

[longsightmyth]

Hello I was wondering if you enjoyed throne of glass overall? I see you made a fanfic for it. I’m forcing myself to finish it because I started and I’m on chapter 26 so halfway there. I don’t mind it and I treat SJM books like junk food and CW shows so I’m not expecting anything special. But I can’t help but feel this book would have been more interesting if the competition had the assassins in a monitored estate and they all had to kill each other. Last assassin standing is obviously the best assassin right? It just feels like they’re doing school field day competitions. Like isn’t all this exposure bad for assassins ? Just because you’re good at archery doesn’t mean you’re good at disguising yourself in an enemies castle and poisoning the lord of the house. Celeana is…interesting I guess… but she’s no Arya Stark and it seems SJM keeps trying to force it on us.

Thanks for asking!

I did not enjoy it even remotely. Shatterglass is a rewrite of the first novel.

If you'd like more thoughts on the series as a whole and the author's entire work, you can click on any of the tags I'm tagging this with for reference or my review.

@spaceshipkat @ripley-stark @discountalien-pancake have I really distanced myself so thoroughly from my roots?!

[bookishfeylin]

I noticed you used to only use the s/jm critical tag but started using the anti s/jm tag recently and I was wondering if you consider yourself an anti and what the difference between the two are if there really even is one. I’m genuinely curious because some people use both and the content seems to be pretty similar (or maybe I’ve just blocked certain people lol, idk) but some people think s/jm critical is better? I want to start posting some thoughts as well and I’m wondering if there are two separate “crowds” or if it’s not really a big deal.

Also I appreciate your abuse analysis💜

Hi anon! You at every welcome! I love to write my analysis 💙

So I honestly use both tags pretty interchangeably and often on the same posts. “Anti” has a negative connotation as someone who harasses people (to oversimplify it), but ofc the whole ACOTAR fandom is toxic so this actually doesn’t matter much here in this fandom. Additionally, tagging anything “anti-“ is also the apparent tumblr etiquette for keeping negativity and criticism and even simple complaining out of the main tags (I guess? I haven’t been on here a full year yet but that’s what I’ve gathered and have seen 90% of the time so that’s what I do anyway.) Unfortunately this sadly holds true for like. Any VALID complaint about these books, such as critiquing the racism or hypocritical discussion of abuse (I got soooo much harassment when I first came on here from people seeing my (inappropriately!) tagged criticism and it was not fun). I don’t harass people or condone it and I don’t attack Sarah personally, so because of the connotation around anti I use the “SJM critical”, BUT again the main way to avoid being harassed myself is to tag things “anti” because chances are that’s the tag most stans have blocked/filtered out. That’s also partially why it irritates me so much when white stans write off all posts in the “anti” tags as complaining or blind hatred for Sarah when a lot of posts are legitimate analysis and critiques of her racism and problematic themes. At any rate… I use both off and on and honestly need a better organizational system lmao. Its a post-sorting-thing mostly.

[nikethestatue]

How to stay in this fandom? I really love all my Elriel moots and I love what the books and half the fandom brought me but lately aaahh there's just so many hate and I wanted to defend Elain and Feyre so bad but everytime I open my laptop my energy is already drain. It's draining to see those weird takes. It's draining to stay away since they're everywhere. Socisl media was like my my break from personal life but now it feels like soon I will leave the fandom too. I wanted to just enoy the fandom and the book but with skk the stupid takes I cannot..

The best advice I can give is just control what you see and what you read.

I really don't see so much Elain hate unless I look for it (which I don't) or it pops up on an Azriel tag here.

I do think it's completely avoidable. We know it all exists, but I think you always need to remind yourself of one thing--this is just social media. I know it's extremely pervasive and it SEEMS like it matters, but honestly, it doesn't.

No one's opinions really matter. Say a Gwynriel art gets 20K likes and Elriel's 10K likes. Ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, what does it matter? There are 7 billion people in the world.

Even thinking back at SJM's own books--oh the battle for Tamlin against Rhys. The outrage! The Chaol debacle! Rowan vs Chaol.

Does any of it matter now? No. No one cares. SJM wrote the books and people accepted them. So all of these shipwars are silly, because it's a fight over fictional characters. Over which we have no control.

It's like when people lose their minds over casting. 'This actor can never be..........!!!! they are terrible!' And then the actor does a good job and everyone is like, oh, that's the only way I envision this character!

So I would say, curate your experience. It's not as difficult as some people say. You CAN avoid negative or upsetting content. Concentrate on what you like, not what you don't like.

[ofbreathandflame]

Re: anti sjm stuff, the funny part is I think even in the anti community, racism rarely gets brought up. it gets a footnote when people ask what's wrong the sjm's work.

Hi anon!

This is interesting! I do think it is commonly talked about within the anti-community and many of the problems that are discussed usually lead back to the racism in the stories. I like your comment about it being mentioned as a footnote when people discuss the problems in her story. That sums up the problems when discussing the racist aspects of her novels. The anti-tag has definitely become more anti-character motivated since the release of A Court of Silver Flames -- but I think that's just a consequence of her own fandom not allowing criticism of work outside of their dedication to their favorite character. I've noticed that because people have talked themselves into a corner defending these characters (and the story has written itself into a corner as well) people have a hard time actually objectively critiquing racist portions of the story.

There's always the broad statement that 'SJM is racist' thrown around -- or that she has 'problematic' storylines but it is only discussed within the framework of undesirable characters (Nesta, Tamlin, Lucien, Beron, Illyrians). The Illyrian plotline is objectively a racist one; there is no scenario where a permanent second class of brown men and women is justifiable but it is. Introspection into that storyline will always negatively affect the characters in the world of the story, but a lot of people will pivot the conversation to an 'anti-feysand' rhetoric instead of a racial one. Aelin being unwilling to help end slavery until her black friend has to orchestrate her own death is both a racial and character problem, but the idea is that these storylines negatively affect her character. People want desperately to separate the racism in the story from the characters when we just...can't. And then people become irritable with the critiques -- even subtly so -- and they develop an aversion to them. The 'Illyrian' problem becomes an only anti-Rhys problem and so they feel comfortable ignoring, justifying, and bashing us for talking about it.

Or they assign these critiques under a 'pro tamlin/pro nesta' category and do the same thing; instead of engaging with the issue at hand we get pages of anti-tamlin, nesta rhetoric. We talk about the Illyrian issue? I'll see a post about how Tamlin is a pig, he should die, and then they feel better about themselves. Or we'll see a post about if we critique Feyre -- then Nesta is worse! She's XYZ and how dare critique Rhys when Nesta is right there.

When the reality is: SJM could kill Tamlin off Kill Nesta off, have them grovel or whatever they imagine they want SJM to do, and it wouldn't really change the racial problems at hand.

The Illyrian problem, the Human problem in CC, the Slavery problem in ToG have facilitated an environment where people feel comfortable defending things akin to 'separate but equal laws,' 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps', 'and justifiable segregation conditions. And I don't have to look far to see it. And if we were all mature -- we could talk about these characters without regurgitating that type of dogma -- but alas we can't because its baked into the story.

A secret city built on the blood of brown men and women who live in tents and give their sons to society they will never get the chance to participate in is a very crazy thing to justify. As is arguing that a group of people WOULD WILLINGLY choose to stay trapped under a mountain. It's not a choice because these people do not have a choice to go to Velaris. It's worse when we consider that Velaris DOES NOT HAVE A STANDING ARMY. It primarily relies on the Illyrians and the Darkbringers. And the story tells us these things bc these are intentional choices.

Critiquing this makes us anti feyre and therefore instead of heading these critiques, people JUMP TO JUSTIFY THEM. There are a lot of reasons why employing a barely literate white teenager in the top office over the 'brown savages' is a bit wild. But introspection into that plotline = anti feyre. And then instead of introspection, we get people justifying the plot point. And that's what's dangerous about sidelining the racism conversations in her work. It's also the problem with rabid shipping culture. It's not being able to recognize the problems in the story outside of characters you love and then justifying harmful ideologies bc you can't separate the critiques from your love a character.