aelin-galathynius

[aelin-galathynius]

I always feel like *old man yells at cloud* when I see people posting about “tandem reads” or how hard it is to switch to Tower of Dawn after reading the cliffhanger in Empire of Storms.

Like I had to wait TWO YEARS after the EoS cliffhanger because I READ THEM AS THEY WERE RELEASED.

I started the series in 2013, between the releases of CoM and Assassin’s Blade. I was 13.

Now I’m a grown up with a grown up job and rent to pay. And all these people are ripping through the series over the course of a few WEEKS?!??

Get off my lawn

#I’m like joking #mostly #I love the love this series has gotten #like it was an EVENT for me in high school #release day was the one time a year I would pull an all nighter #to read the new book on kindle when it came out at midnight #Aelin is still my favorite literary character of all time #even though it’s been five years since the series concluded #and ten years since I started it #throne of glass #kingdom of ash #tower of dawn #empire of storms

[aelin-galathynius]

damen and laurent are equally intimidating. the difference is that damen becomes less intimidating the more you know him while laurent does not (unless you're damen)

#in my fic I made Laurent maybe too nice #but I also made my oc very traumatized #and I think Laurent is very perceptive about it #so he’s like nice to HER #but I think that’s also partly to throw nikandros off balance #like oh yeah you’re worried I’m going to be mean to this person you care about #well what if I was NICE? #and FRIENDLY #WHAT THEN?? #*oh shoot this may have backfired* #bc now he might just see me as capable of being nice

[aelin-galathynius]

Thank you for the kind response! I totally get what you’re saying about the nature of fanfiction and derivative work in general. Especially when we consider that ideas like copyright and intellectual property haven’t been around that long in the scheme of human history and storytelling. Like, so many cultures from different parts of the world and different time periods developed somewhat similar mythologies and stories very independently of each other. There seem to be certain modes and frameworks that so many of us are drawn to, over and over again. I worry constantly that I’ll never come up with a truly original idea, but then I remind myself that that might be okay, even if it’s a little dramatic. I have the privilege of having unprecedented access to so much art, literature, and culture thanks to the Internet and other globalizing forces. It’s something to celebrate, and be grateful for, because in this way I think we’re luckier than anyone who has come before us!

Hi there! This may be a little weird, but I wanted to reach out to you for a few reasons. I’ve been writing and publishing a Captive Prince fic on AO3, called The Mercy of Wild Beasts, for the past few weeks. You probably haven’t read it, because the hit count is still pretty low.

I’ve been reading your fic for a few weeks too, and I LOVE IT. Waiting for each update is like glorious torture. Your prose is so beautiful, and I love the way you reference other works of art. Plus the story itself is amazing, obviously.

I just wanted to reach out because there is a plot point that our stories share, which is the sort of Outlander-esque marriage of convenience to avoid basically being deported situation.

I want to let you know that even though you wrote it, I came up with the idea for my story months ago, and am not trying to copy you or steal your thunder or anything like that!

I’m also not trying to like get your blessing or anything!

I’d been meaning to reach out on here to say how much I love eiat anyway, so I thought I’d also offer an explanation, which I realize might be unnecessary and even seem aggressive.

But no aggression here! I swear! I’m just a girl who likes what you write and think you’re really smart and also don’t wanna come off as completely insane, the chances of which are lowering as this ask get progressively longer. So I’m going to stop now. Have a good night!

Hellooooo fellow writer! I hope you don't mind that I'm publishing this, but I thought it would be good to acknowledge it out loud!

I totally get why you may feel the need to explain yourself, but there really isn't any need. Fanfiction is derivative and transformative by nature, and a lot of the common/well-loved scenarios have roots in romance fiction anyway. I've got no doubt that prior to me starting EIAT, there were other time slip and/or marriage of convenience fics on AO3. We writers are often drawing from the same pool of romance fiction traditions, and so there's bound to be repetition and overlap. What really makes the difference is how we interpret those traditions, and what we do with them! The individual spin and story building that a writer does is the important thing.

And that's the real beauty, isn't it? If a reader doesn't like what I'm doing with arranged marriage in EIAT, they can skip on over to your fic and maybe find something more suited to their tastes (which is, of course, we why tag things hahaha)

I think it's also worth noting that because of the nature of AO3 and the volume of works being produced in a fandom like this, it's impossible (or maybe just unlikely) for anyone to have read everything or to be aware of all of it. I'll confess that I don't even read much fic in general, and the proportion of what I read which is for CaPri is even lower.

That said, I do love an arranged marriage plot, so I'm definitely going to be checking out your story once I'm wrapped up with EIAT (only reason I'm not right now is that I try not to read fic while I'm working on fic! I try to keep my thoughts un-diluted and un-influenced by other people's work <3)

Still, thanks for reaching out! And I hope this alleviates some of the anxiety/uncertainty/strange feeling you had around what a possible reaction from me could be.

PS - sooooooo stoked that you're enjoying EIAT! And thank you so much for the lovely comments on my writing <3 <3 <3

#I hope that makes sense lol #sometimes I’m so overwhelmed by the fact that I can just go online and look at Van Gogh paintings #and Chinese landscapes from like the 16th century #and Michelangelo sculptures #and Hokusai prints #and colossal Buddha sculptures all over Central Asia #WHENEVER I WANT #LIKE THEYRE JUST THERE FOR ME TO LOOK AT #and also like Shakespeare and George Eliot and Jane Austen and Julian of Norwich are all FREE AND ACCESSIBLE #like all of recorded human history and art are just there for me to know and look at #ya know? #I was in Washington DC in the spring #and we spent like 2 hours in the nation gallery #but I could spend like 2 weeks #just staring at the turner seascapes and Monets lilies

[aelin-galathynius]

Lol I posted this less than two weeks ago and it’s over 25000 words.

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Nikandros (Captive Prince)/Original Female Character(s), Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince) Characters: Nikandros (Captive Prince), Original Female Character(s), Damen (Captive Prince), Laurent (Captive Prince) Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Kings Rising, Canon Compliant, Eventual Romance, Potential eventual smut, I’m Bad At Tagging Summary:

A year after Laurent’s Ascension, Nikandros has been tasked by his Kings with continuing to hunt down rogue slavers who defy the King’s edict of abolition. On a raid near the Delpha/Patras/Vask Border, he encounters a woman unlike any other freed slave he’s ever met.

Maia is the product of a messy heritage and struggles to find her place in Veretian and Akielon society. After a misstep, her life changes when her stepmother sells her to slave smugglers.

~~

This story is partially inspired by the short story “The Adventures of Charls the Venetian Cloth Merchant” that takes place after the events of Kings Rising.

Please be kind! This is my first ever fic!

#captive prince

[aelin-galathynius]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Nikandros (Captive Prince)/Original Female Character(s), Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince) Characters: Nikandros (Captive Prince), Original Female Character(s), Damen (Captive Prince), Laurent (Captive Prince) Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Kings Rising, Canon Compliant, Eventual Romance, Potential eventual smut, I'm Bad At Tagging Summary:

A year after Laurent's Ascension, Nikandros has been tasked by his Kings with continuing to hunt down rogue slavers who defy the King's edict of abolition. On a raid near the Delpha/Patras/Vask Border, he encounters a woman unlike any other freed slave he's ever met.

Maia is the product of a messy heritage and struggles to find her place in Veretian and Akielon society. After a misstep, her life changes when her stepmother sells her to slave smugglers.

~~

This story is partially inspired by the short story "The Adventures of Charls the Venetian Cloth Merchant" that takes place after the events of Kings Rising.

Please be kind! This is my first ever fic!

#so I wrote a thing and hey maybe you should read it idk #captive prince #prince's gambit #kings rising #the summer palace #damen #laurent #nikandros

[aelin-galathynius]

Y’all John green is back on tumblr and all it took was a cartoon billionaire villain destroying Twitter

[aelin-galathynius]

Counterpoint: Aelin has the power of ✨arrogance✨

I’ve seen a lot of discourse, especially on titktok, about who would win in a fight between the tog characters and the acotar characters. And some of you are not ready for this, but acotar, definitely. They are overpowered, Rhys in particular. Like the man can literally crash your mind. You got shields? You’re not even going to know where he is in order to use whatever powers you got to attack him if he just leisurely winnows around. And while you wonder where the fuck he’s gone, he’s already misted you. One on one, Rhysand cannot be defeated. Even against several opponents he cannot be beaten. Should he be so overpowered? Don’t know, not saying that. But he is. Feyre herself can destroy minds and she can winnow and she has a whole bunch of powers. She is deadly. And don’t get me started on Nesta, if she ever learns how to use even the scrap she has left of her power. That would be more of a physical against physical fight so I guess it depends, but still. Deadly. And this are just the powers we know about, Elain and Morrigan might take up the task too as they’ve been presented so far.

Take this just as an objective analysis. I’m not saying the acotar characters are better for it or anything, but I’ve seen the majority of people pick the tog crew. And it’s okay if they’re your favourite, if the series is your favourite (obviously), but this is just critical thinking. There’s nothing anyone can do against an enemy who can turn you into a bloody mist without lifting a finger (I repeat, if he doesn’t crush your brains into slimy mush first). Like c’mon.

#but also I don’t want them to fight I want them to be BEST FRENS

[aelin-galathynius]

Gotta love how everything in this fandom is taken to the extreme.

Nothing is ever gray or nuanced. No character can simply have been written with true, deep character flaws. If they are then anyone who likes them is a bad person who supports abusers.

Like I have seen some great and well-written criticism of SJM and the books.

But more often than not people take the most bad-faith, simplistic readings of these texts. And then they insist that more generous, nuanced readings are wrong and that anyone who takes that type of reading is supportive of abuse?

Like I hate to break it to y’all but at the very least [insert character name] is not “an abuser” if for no other reason than that they’re FICTIONAL. Like none of this is real.

I’m not telling you which characters to like or dislike. But STOP projecting your bad-faith criticism onto a work that has never pretended to be anything other than exactly what it is.

#sorry if this makes negative sense #but I saw some post about quote nesta giving up her powers for her abusers #and how it’s hypocritical that sjm could do that to nesta and still say she loves her #and it’s like did we read the same book #y’all are just projecting onto these faerie porn books #it’s not that deep #and it’s not supposed to be realistic #acotar

[aelin-galathynius]

HOSAB SPOILERS

Kinda not been too into being here for the past few years, but I am emerging onto this hellsite and into this hell fandom to present my HOSAB/TOG theory.

So SJM has established several things that we are already aware of:

1. The Fae of Midgard come from the ACOTAR world

2. Both of these worlds also exist in the same multiverse as the ToG world. As Aelin is yeeting herself through all the worlds in KoA, she passes “through a world where a great city had been built along the curve of the river, the buildings impossibly tall and glimmering with lights” (KoA ch 99). SJM confirmed in an IG Live that this city is Crescent City–the world is Midgard.

3. Rigelus tells Bryce that the shifters of Midgard (including the wolves, ie Danika, Connor, Ithan, Sabine, etc) are Fae. 

(Chapter 73)

He may be lying, but I think he’s telling the truth. There’s not really a reason for him to lie to Bryce about this. 

So my theory which I humbly present into the Tumblr SJM fandom void is as follows:

The shifters of Midgard are from the THRONE OF GLASS world. 

It makes sense, no? SJM wouldn’t have Rigelus reveal this tidbit unless it was going to become relevant later. I think this tells us that the crossover is not going to stop at the ACOTAR crew. We may see a certain Fire Breathing Bitch-Queen, a certain Faerie Queen of the West, as Bryce continues on her journey to find her mate.

Okay bye now.

#hosab spoilers #crescent city #hosab #house of sky and breath #hoeab #house of earth and blood #quinlar #bryce quinlan #hunt athalar #aelin ashryver galathynius #a court of thorns and roses #feysand #rowaelin #rhysand #feyre archeron #I really hope this is true bc I really really really wanna see my queen again #like my hope is that Bryce rolls up and Aelin is doing queen shit in Terrasen #like I loved the end of KoA but I want more of Aelin and Co hanging out together and being happy and prospering and shit #cmon Sarah I know that feysand are your faves or whatever but I need me some Aelin too

[aelin-galathynius]

I’m not here to invalidate, but a lot of issues and fights I’ve seen have come from Elriel shippers being really defensive against or offended at good faith, articulate criticism of Elriel. Like, ship whoever you want. No character or ship is ever going to be perfect and Sarah has given ample subtext—and now straight up text—for Elriel potentially being endgame. But I’ve seen a lot of Elriel critical people get accused of “hate” for simply bringing up valid points about the problematic aspects of the ship. And I honestly have seen really nasty stuff from Elriel people responding to said criticism. And I think that sucks because most Elriel people are really chill and respectful—it ruins it for them and everyone else when some Elriel shippers just act horribly.

I just want to address some things I’ve seen this past week since ACOSF came out. We know how toxic and hateful the SJM fandom can be as we have clearly seen with the waiting period for Nesta’s book and it seems like is going to be worse for ACOTAR 5.

At the moment Sarah’s hasn’t confirmed anything regarding who’s next book will be about, but she’s has mentioned that it is pretty obvious. If we follow the narrative ACOTAR is the Archeron sisters journey so why wouldn’t Elain’s be next? Sarah has said multiple times that she’s researched for Elain’s book. In ACOSF we also see a new side of her character, we get more mentions of the possibility of a mating bond being rejected, how she isn’t making any effort to interact more with Lucien, her commitment with the Night Court, her friendship with Nuala and Cerridwen and the blood duel and its consequences. Additionally Azriel also has more focus and he even gets an exclusive POV. Without going into detail about both exclusive chapters (as not everyone in the world has access to them) from a general readers perspective all signs point to Elriel being a possibility as there has been hints since ACOMAF. Furthermore why have all this hints if she won’t do anything about them?

Now I can’t speak for every casual reader but I’ve been speaking with some people (friends mostly) who have read the books and don’t ship anything and they agree that there’s a major possibility that Elriel will be endgame and are open to all possibilities.

If we took into consideration those exclusive chapters, what do they have in common? Both have mentions of Elain and Azriel’s POV confirms there are feelings involved. But as I said in a previous post for me they aren’t conclusive as only a really small part of the readers have access to them and from a writers perspective you cannot undo something that has been building for 4 books in a couple of pages that not all your audience has access to. Besides Azriel’s chapter timeline is the middle of ACOSF and if the Gwynriel interaction was that important it would have been mentioned in the book itself.

If you search the Eriel tag it’s full of well researched theories that are backed up by quotes so if the hate is getting you down or it’s making you doubt just go ahead and read them they’ll for sure make you less anxious. And if all this hate is making you more anxious just take a step back, pick up one of your comfortable reads and when you feel ready come back. This characters will always be here, reading shouldn’t be an anxiety triggering experience. Another thing I’ve seen with this fandom is how other opinions affect the reading experience so just focus on what you’re feeling and don’t mind what other people are saying!

Regarding the ship wars, we need to focus on Elain and Elriel and just try to ignore the bullshit/hate they are spreading about us! We have the theories, metas and characters analysis. The hints and foreshadowing are there for all to see. We shouldn’t forget that at the end of the day this are Sarah’s books and we are only here for the ride.

I just say this because I’ve been in war ships before that lasted years and even received death threats for shipping something one part of the fandom didn’t like. So in my personal experience it’s better for all parts involved if we don’t instigate hate, stay in our tags and ignore them. Block anything if it makes it easier for you to have the experience you want.

Idk if this rambling makes sense but I needed to get it out of my chest. I apologize if there’s any mistake, English is my third language!

Treat people with kindness and let’s enjoy our ship without negativity!

#I’m kinda ambivalent about Elains pairings #I don’t necessarily lean towards Lucien #just more away from Elriel #like that doesn’t seem like a healthy relationship with the characters as they are now #but if part of their story is about them growing into a place where it can be a healthy relationship then I’m all for it

[aelin-galathynius]

acosf as john mulaney quotes because we all need that shit

nesta:

emerie:

gwyn:

cassian:

az:

elain:

feyre:

lucien:

eris:

+bonus

the House:

#it was super funny until the Feyre one #and then I got sad #but they’re all super accurate still

[aelin-galathynius]

ACOSF SPOILERS!!!!

So there’s a brief scene

And in the scene in KoA when Aelin is falling through worlds and she falls into Prythian and Feyre is Super Pregnant™️.

So I think that the red shooting star is actually Aelin falling through the dimensions and Rhys is contemplative because he sensed Aelin’s consciousness.

I would also like to add that the shining city on the curve of a river is def Crescent City

#a court of thorns and roses #a court of silver flames #a court of mist and fury #a court of wings and ruin #a court of frost and starlight #throne of glass #kingdom of ash #crown of midnight #heir of fire #queen of shadows #empire of storms #nesta archeron #feyre archeron #nessian #Feysand #aelin galathynius #crescent city #house of earth and blood #bryce quinlan #Rhysand #cassian #azriel #elain archeron #I’m going to hide some thoughts in the tags too #like some standout moments were #nesta imagining a threesome with cassian and azriel made me laugh so hard #and the moment when emerie is like ooh morrigans so pretty and cool #like yeah real subtle sarah #I think we can guess where that’s going #and I’m a lil annoyed they named their kid nyx like that’s a little obvious

[aelin-galathynius]

Yrene and Elide both did?

I have a theory that SJ Maas was a Twilight fan back in the day but she was Team Jacob and never got over the fact that Bella didn’t choose him.

Then she became an author and decided that every one of her heroines would never go for the first guy they fall in love with...

A viscous cycle.

[aelin-galathynius]

NOT TODAY. s01e08 / s08e03

[aelin-galathynius]

literally no one:

me:

#honestly everyone hates her but i love her so fckin much #her arc makes so much sense #minus the married to ramsay and rape stuff #like she was a naive girl raised to marry a prince and have his babies and sing and dance #and she thought that that was what the world was #and that all people were noble and honorable and chivalrous #and she didnt have some sudden epiphany about how shitty the world and people are #thats what growing up is #and no she doesnt burn people or ride dragons pr fight with a sword like many of the other women #she is still strong though #she will command men and armies #she can be ruthless and strategic but also empathy and kindness and so called feminine qualities #she is one of the most multifaceted characters on the show and i just love her so much #just let my bby sansa b ok #sansa stark #game of thrones

[aelin-galathynius]

He knew she had power he just didn’t acknowledge it. At the meeting of the high lords when feyre has here little tantrum and tries to kill beron and

Tamlin didn’t say anything bc he believed feyre belonged to him. And he probably was also worried that the other high lords would have the negative reaction that they did.

Tamlin is a tool but he’s not that stupid.

The fact that Tamlin was so sure that Feyre had no powers is honestly… so dumb?

She literally got power from every single High Lord??? He was so adamant and caught up in his protector complex that he couldn’t see Feyre’s ridiculous strength A POWER SHE GOT FROM HIM as anything out of the ordinary????

[aelin-galathynius]

“I suggest you drop my lady”

This is the lineart for a Cassian piece I’m working on. Can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s finished.