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valkyriesbaby · 7 months

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SJM Live Event 9.26.2023

This was so fun! I loved the questions and rapport between Christian Lauren and Sarah. Below is a recap of what was discussed :)

She looks great!

They met years ago when SJM was still writing TOG (on book two)

COURTOFMASS helped narrow down the questions so AYY fandom

CL likes to see when people try to summarize the SJM’s books so they asked SJM to summarize CC

SJM’s palms were sweating (LOL) and she summarized it as “a mix of urban fantasy, fantasy, fantasy but modern world - kick ass snarky heroine who goes on a journey of self-discovery and healing with hot ass dudes and hot sex”

“Doesn’t look any family members in the eye” because of her smut (lol)

SJM doesn’t look at any theories. “I say no in the most loving way”

She doesn’t have social media on her phone so she’s not lurking around on the internet. She just wants to stay in her creative bubble. Every now and then a friend will send her something “lol look at this crazy theory”

Creating CC / what was that like?

It was a year-long process and ongoing as she was writing it. She’s back living in NYC and growing up in the city inspired a lot of this book. The idea came to her on a plane while on tour (possibly HOF) and she heard a piece of music, and saw Danika’s voice reaching out to Bryce. It’s when she burst into tears and Bryce came to life (she’s told us this before). She kind of worked in reverse as it unraveled in her mind. It’s something she thought about for years and it was her “fun” / side project. Over the course of a bunch of years, until TOG was starting to wrap up, she kept coming back to it.

This was the story she wanted to tell because she loved Bryce and Hunt so much by that point. It was over the course of years daydreaming about this story and peeling away the images of the story. She had a lot of fun writing this book.

How does she keep track of the worlds she creates?

Publisher has an official bible which they constantly reference and she has an awesome editor that remembers all the important stuff and small moments/lines. She has a terrible memory in real life but SJM keeps all her stories occupied in her brain. Also keeps a bunch of notebooks.

We don’t know much about Hunt’s origin so are we going to find out about his parentage and background in the next book?

We will learn more about Hunt in the next book. As for his well-being, “I make no promises. I’m not saying anything about anything.” LOL. “I will say that when I was working on HOSAB my editor and I were thinking about what was the most horrible thing that could happen.” Originally she considered him getting his wings chopped off again but her editor was like “what can be worse” and it’s the slave tattoo again. A new level of trauma for him to unload in the next book. “He has a lot of room to grow and shit to deal with it. Poor Hunt, he’s in for a journey coming up.”

Will we find out more about the Autumn King? Does he connect to the Autumn Court?

Yes, we will learn more (about him not necessarily yes to the Autumn Court connection). “He’s not a father in any way.” In the process of writing and editing, he’s become one of her favorite to write because he’s so horrible and terrible. He’s capable of doing the right thing but doesn’t. He’s just a fucked up, horrible person. It’s a lot of fun to put opposing characters in a room to see what happens (bryce vs autumn king). It’s so satisfying for her to see a woman get one up on a douchey asshole.

Ruhn question - Some headcanon in the SJM fandom (that I didn’t quite catch but it made them all laugh) Something about Ruhn and vibrators? Sarah nearly fell down the stairs laughing about this. Now that she’s thinking about sweet Ruhn and where he is, she feels bad. (SARAH NO).

Talked about her writing process - Sometimes she will write a whole draft and realize it’s not what she wants. When she was working on HOFAS, she was going through some shit (didn’t want to elaborate) and she wrote the whole thing but then she didn’t like it. She was “meh” about it. She knew she hadn’t found the right story and it wasn’t good enough. She is very intense about her writing and wants to put her very best writing out there.

There’s a little bit of an extra gap between the books because she had her baby but also she went through the first/second round of edits with other things going on that she wasn’t in the right space. She felt like she needed to throw out the whole thing and start over. She wrote a brand new draft in 4-5 weeks and then she found the story. A couple of scenes stayed from the first draft but almost of it is new. She never wants to put out any work she doesn’t believe in. “You can’t fix a blank page.” so it’s all part of the writing process for her.

For example, the book she’s working on now - spent the whole day writing a scene but she doesn’t like it and it’s part of the process.

What it was like waiting for readers to get to the ending of HOSAB / Another author asked about when she decided to crash her worlds together the author can’t fathom that Sarah didn’t plan this out from the beginning so when Aelin went through the worlds and Rhys sees her - “Are you some crazy genius where all these little breadcrumbs come into your brain or was it intentional?”

Not a genius in any way. Talks about her son and how he says “I’m Sarah J Mask” - her kids keep her humble (lmao). Her son is obsessed with Taylor Swift so it doesn’t matter what she does, she’ll never be Taylor Swift so she’ll never be cool (lol). She loves Taylor and has so much respect for her and now she knows all her songs because they only listened to her in the car. She has the little golden book of TS for her son (LOL). In the eyes of her son, TS is the only creative genius and she is all for it.

When it comes to the ending of this book, she knew for a while and knew these worlds overlapped before she started working on KOA. She knew Aelin was going to crash through these worlds and had already started daydreaming on CC. When she wrote that scene of Aelin, she wanted her to go through the ACOTAR world and see Feysand then had her go through the CC world. When she was really working on CC officially, while daydreaming about it, she got into this idea of the worlds and how they’re all technically connected. She remembered having this “what the fuck” moment of HOSAB’s ending. “I don’t know what’s happening to my body” and everything clicked in. While working on CC1, she was able to plant some seeds.

When she finally wrote the end of HOSAB with Rhys, she cried. Things had just completely gone to shit in CC and “my wonderful Rhys” comes in. One of her favorite parts that she’s ever written.

Will we see ACOTAR characters coming in/having POVs? - “I’m not saying anything about anything.” We will see some of the ACOTAR world. It basically picks up close to where we left off.

Is Dankia really dead - “Um, yeah.” LOL “She is dead and as much as I wish was miraculously living, she’s dead.”

Is Connor really dead - “Yes?” LOL

Does Emil really have no powers? - Passed on answering this. “I like it.”

With magic being weaker in the modern world, do mates mean the same thing in the fantasy (ACOTAR/TOG) as they do in the modern world? - Pass because (they started speaking over each other here but I assume it will be because we will understand more of this in HOFAS).

Is Hunt really Bryce’s mate - “Am I going to destroy some kind of theory?” She answered, “YES, HE IS HER MATE.” She talked about how she’s changed the LI in her other series (the FMC’s first LI not being her last one) but with CC she kept the same LI from the beginning to the end - “If they both make it to the end.” (she’s so mean for this LOL)

When the first ACOTAR book came out, it was hard for her to keep Feysand a secret because people would tell her how much they loved Tamlin and she had to just smile awkwardly about it (lolol).

How much of Bryce’s power has she accessed? - We’ll see in the next book!

They talked a little about parenting and their kids aging and personal stories for a bit.

CL mentioned SJM previously saying that people won’t need to read ACOTAR to read CC and vice versa. Is that statement still true? - “You should read ACOTAR and if you haven’t read ACOTAR and get to HOSAB, it’ll make you want to read it.” She had them put an AD in the back of HOSAB for people to read ACOTAR. She then said, “I do not stand by that statement. I renounce this statement. Read ACOTAR first.” (👀)

Discussed the cover of HOFAS and whether the cover has a dragon head - “I am not saying anything. There are always easter eggs.” She added, “We made sure there were many easter eggs.” It’s probably her favorite cover. It came together so beautifully.

Did she write HOSAB in order? - She’s always super pumped to write her endings. She has to write in a linear/chronical fashion and she dangles the ending as motivation. She was powering through the rest of the book so she could get to writing the endings of HOSAB. It was the same with ACOSF with Nesta in the Blood Rite and saving Feyre.

What were some of the most fun/favorite/hardest scenes- In HOEAB, when Hunt discovers Bryce’s unicorn collection. Sarah has collections of My Little Pony and has been in bidding wars for them. She loves them LOL. Another scene will always be Bryce and Danika doing the drop. She still cries thinking about it. “Call me sentimental, cheesy, or whatever - I believe in our darkest moments we aren’t alone.” That scene means a lot to her.

In HOSAB - she loved the opening of the book where they’re basically at a frat party “Wonder where the inspo for that came from” LOL / She loves the little moments of them living their lives and getting to be themesleevs in between disasters. She loved it when Ruhn was super stoned lmao. She also loved the scene with The Hind and Ithan in the bar as well as the end of HOSAB with the Hind revealing herself to her Ruhn; she cried a lot while writing those scenes.

She gets so emotionally involved with her books/characters. Most of the book is what she loves. She needs to be obsessed with her book because she has to read it over so many times and stay in love with it as she rereads it.

She remembers seeing tear stains on copies of her manuscripts. She loves all her characters so much and they make it worth it across all the series. They feel real to her. She’s getting to see them in all aspects of their lives.

Three Bigger Questions -

One of the reasons they clicked as friends is because they have the same fangirl heart - CL loves her passion for things. How does it feel to have this fandom follow her the way she follows her favorites? Sarah mentions how she was a fangirl of CL first.

It feels weird to even say fandom for her books. It’s beyond anything she’s ever hoped for herself. There’s no ego here but she grew up as a fangirl for so many things so it blows her mind that people connect with these characters and worlds and that they mean something to them. She also has a profound sense of gratitude that she gets to do what she loves because of the people who read her books. She’s deeply appreciative of the joy and enthusiasm we bring to the books. It’s a very humbling and moving thing to inspire someone.

Every time she sees someone reading her book, she walks up to them and talks about it apparently! One girl on the street walked by her and Josh and they saw a tattoo of the mountain with three stars and they wanted to ask her about it. Sarah sent Josh to ask her about her tattoo. “He wasn’t cool about it, he just blurted it out.” She then introduced herself but the girl didn’t seem to believe her HAHA. “No makeup and in regular street clothes. I think she thought I was a lunatic on the street. I don’t think she left the encounter believing it was me.” “I’m going to be quiet and not scare people anymore.”

She saw a guy on the subway reading ACOMAF “Is he reading some sexy ass stuff on the subway?” but he was reading it because his gf was reading it.

It blows her mind seeing people read her books in real life just like seeing her book on shelves never gets old.

Now that CC3 is done, what are you working on now?

Currently working on/drafting the next ACOTAR novel! That’s all she will say. She has become so focused and excited writing this book. She described it as the feeling when you’re first obsessed with someone and all they’re thinking about. For the next god knows how many months or “a million years” LOL

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valkyriesbaby · 9 months

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Since HOSAB was released, a lot of the connections between Midgard and Prythian (and Erilea) have been… confusing. It’s a lot of information and there are connections between characters that are clear as mud because the details are buried in any one of about 14 books. I thought I’d outline some of the information that we know for sure about different characters’ powers, the history of the fae, and then potentially clarify the connections between Rhys, Az, Ruhn, and Cormac. In addition, I’ll touch on their potential connections to Theia, Fionn, Pelias, and Helena.

Tl;dr - nearly every character in acotar (and many in CC) is connected to the island of near-perpetual twilight in Prythian, meaning connections to Theia, Fionn, Helena (and potentially her sister), or Pelias. This means that there is not one specific character who would have more “right” or “heritage” to rule it, in addition to other political problems that would create. This is based on mounds of evidence, and not just one-off descriptions.

This got super long, so it's under the cut.

So first, a reminder about what we know regarding the Prythian fae.

Timeline:

Fionn was given Gwydion by Oleanna

Fionn fought the Daglan/Asteri in Prythian and was able to overthrow them

The Daglan/Asteri at some point made the Illyrians to be a fighting force; however, the Illyrians fought with the fae to expel the Daglan/Asteri from Prythian.

It was during this time that Enalius prevented the Daglan/Asteri from reaching the stone at the top of Ramiel.

Fionn was later betrayed by his queen (likely Theia) and his general (likely Pelias), who eventually killed him and took his weapons (IE Gwydion)

We know that Gwydion ended up in Midgard, making it likely that Theia (fae queen) was Fionn’s wife and Pelias his general

Pelias then forcibly wed Helena, Theia’s daughter, after killing Theia

There was also an unnamed daughter (Helena’s sister) who escaped

It is after this that the courts were established in Prythian.

At this point intime, we have fae left behind in Prythian, while Pelias and Helena’s children spread throughout Midgard

Fast-forward thousands of years, and what we are left with are a bunch of fae who manifest the powers that Theia and possibly Fionn possessed. Because of the mixing of bloodlines over thousands of years and the fact that Theia and Pelias went from one world to another (along with other fae), it’s likely that nearly every fae in Prythian and Midgard are related to those who originally came from the dusk isle, or at the very least from Prythian fae.

This is borne out in the fact that fae powers show up as light or dark, that Theia was the Starborn queen, and this description of Helena, her daughter:

Night-haired Helena, from whose golden skin poured starlight and shadows.

Theia was the Starborn queen, so did the shadows in Helena come from Fionn? TBD. The important thing here is that Helena is one of the only characters we know of who displayed both starlight and shadow powers.

How does that relate to our current characters? Well 1) we know that Helena had a missing sister, and 2) nearly every character in acotar (and many in CC) is described as glowing with light when using their powers, OR has the ability to manipulate darkness/shadows. In other words, all of these characters display something of Helena’s powers.

Characters with shadows/darkness:

Ruhn

Azriel

Rhys

Cormac

Characters described via light/glowing:

Nesta

Elain

Feyre

Gwyn

Amren

Lucien

Rhys

Mor

I’m not pulling out every single example of these descriptions because this post would never end, but there are some on this post.

You’ll notice that Cassian and Emerie are missing from the lists above; as Illyrians, they are not descended from High Fae, nor are they lesser fae. Illyrians were created by the Asteri/Daglan, and so they wouldn’t (or shouldn’t, if this is supposed to be consistent) glow with either type of light. This does imply that Az has some High Fae somewhere in his bloodline, which would be where his shadow powers come from. It seems pretty logical at this point to assume that he isn't "pure" Illyrian, although I have different thoughts about having a second secret daddy in acotar when we already have one secret daddy to deal with.

Again, it’s still unclear if the shadow aspect of Helena’s powers (and therefore her descendants’) is due to Theia or to Fionn. However, it is possible that Helena’s missing sister remained in or returned to Prythian, meaning that characters like Rhys and Az have access to shadows/darkness that way. That would also ensure that Theia's Starborn blood was perpetuated in Prythian.

In addition,

Gwydion glows brightly

Truthteller, when it is reunited with Gwydion, glows with “dark light”.

Bryce’s star glows with bright light when she is near someone who is Starborn or someone she has chosen to be one of her "knights"

The mating bond is also described as a glow

FWIW, daemati and winnowing powers don’t seem to be linked to any specific bloodline or court. Both are described as showing up based on “power” or the Mother’s will, and none of the important characters from the past were noted as having either power:

Daemati:

“We’re rare, and the trait appears as the Mother wills it” (acomaf)

Winnowing:

“Is—is winnowing tied to any one of you in particular?” He considered. “Wind? The Day Court, likely. And winnowing—it’s not confined to any court. It’s wholly dependent on your own reserve of power—and training.” (also acomaf)

What’s the tl;dr? Basically, that no one in the series as it stands, imho, has a “claim” on dusk; there is nothing unique about either light or dark powers, because every single character will manifest them if they are fae. It is logical to assume that Theia ruled the island of near-perpetual twilight, but we know for a fact that both light and dark manifestations of power are connected to Helena. Meaning neither light or darkness is more or less legitimate in terms of inheritance - they have equal significance. Some characters might have more Starborn blood than others, but since Ms. Bryce’s powers were tapped out at the end of hosab, we weren’t able to see who she lit up around, if that is a factor.

Another thought about shadowsingers and lightsingers: given the Prythian fae’s misconceptions about their origins - they think they were created by the Daglan, which we learn in hosab is untrue, at least for the High and lesser fae - it isn’t surprising that they don’t understand the origin of either lightsingers or shadowsingers. The information about Helena glowing with light and dark is from HOSAB, from Ruhn; people in Prythian wouldn’t know it. So I wonder if the names are honestly misnomers, mainly because there is so little to go on. Lightsingers have been described in the most simplistic, evil terms, and what we have been given has nothing to do with either light or singing. Shadowsingers can obviously use shadows, but even Rhys questions the actual nature of Azriel’s relationship to the shadows. And what is the reason for singing in that context?

(tbh I think these names are mainly aesthetic and that sjm uses light/dark imagery so often that it just kinda fell into place by accident. Especially since lightsingers have zero redeeming qualities and have nothing to do with either light or singing.)

“An isle of near-permanent twilight, the home world of her breed of Fae … A land of Dusk.”

This land of near-permanent twilight existed in the middle of both, light and dark. It makes sense that the origin of the fae, fae who can manifest light, dark, or both, is a place that exists in the middle of those two extremes.

Light powers and dark/shadow powers belong to nearly every character in the series, making none of them any closer than the others to Theia, Helena, or the dusk isle. In a world where the High Lords are about to throw down over a weakened Spring Court, I doubt that they would just be fine with the formation of an eighth court when

that would change the balance of power,

no one has any more right to rule an eighth court than anyone else, and

if the dusk court has some sort of origin powers, it would be even more contentious than any other territory takeover

and this could be inconsequential, but it would ruin the significance of the number 7 in there being 7 courts

Could it happen? Sure! But Cormac and Ruhn, Gwyn, Feyre, Nesta, and literally anyone else who has powers that manifest as light or dark have an equal claim on being a descendant of Theia, and therefore of that island.

***

thanks to these people for helping me talk through this today and making sure that I'm not full of shit. You can direct any suggestions or complaints to them: @elains @tangledraysofsunshine @symphonyofbleedingshadows @aionuel @yazthebookish

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