#sjm is genuinely a bad writer

[rewrite-canon]

white authors who love to write about oppression they have never experienced themselves are dropping like FLEAS rn

[sweetandspicy]

Sorry this is a long post, I had to rant a bit.

The thing that bothers me the most about the ACOTAR series is the fae. I love fae, I love stories with fae in them, there are so many interesting things you can do with them. So many ways you can make them unique and yet still retain the basis of what fae are. And yet Sarah J Maas just... doesn't.

SJM really just took everything interesting about the fae and threw it in the bin. The fae to me have always been fantastical, "other", they just don't feel human, they feel different, they feel strange. But ACOTAR's fae are just so bland and boring. They don't feel different to the humans. In fact they feel like humans but with magic and pointy ears. It genuinely pains me how SJM threw everything interesting about the fae away.

I personally love the concept of the fae not being able to lie. There is so much fun and interest in that concept. It is something that is challenging to navigate. Every fae character cannot directly tell a lie therefore you have to get creative with what they say, you have to twist words around so that they can lie without actually lying.

That idea is initially presented to us but Feyre learns pretty early on that that isn't true. That the fae in ACOTAR can lie. Even if SJM wanted to take away the concept that fae can't lie, she didn't even play around with Feyre's misconception about them. Feyre could've gone through part of the first book believing everything that the fae said to her to be true. To me, that sounds like an interesting concept and i would've loved to read about it. I can't remember exactly how quickly Feyre is told the fae can lie but it's not even slightly an issue.

Another thing about the fae is that they're mischievous. They love playing tricks, whether it's something mild or completely cruel. But ACOTAR's characters lack that mischievousness, the cunning. They aren't tricksters like fae usually are. Correct me if I'm wrong but I can't seem to remember a time when someone attempted to trick Feyre. Amarantha made a deal with Feyre, but it was straightforward, there was no trick to it. Rhysand didn't trick her into the bargain either. It would've been interesting to see the fae attempting to trick Feyre, to get her to enter into a bargain that seems good but they worded it in a way that it is actually bad.

Instead the ACOTAR characters, specifically the males, are all presented as your typical "alpha male". Rhysand is presented to us as cunning but to me he doesn't feel like that of a cunning fae but a cunning human. Tamlin can literally shapeshift and yet SJM doesn't do anything of interest with that. Luicen was slightly mischievous in Book 1 but even then it is how you expect any normal character to be, he does not play tricks like that of the fae. I might be nitpicking with these but i truly wish we had gotten more trickster like characters.

As much as everyone likes to hate on Book 1, there were interesting fae in that book. The Bogge, the Naga, the Puca (I suppose this one did trick Feyre), the Suriel. Alis was interesting, she was described as having bark like skin. I want more diversity in the characters looks. Our main cast and most of the major side characters all look normal, human but with pointy ears or wings.

Their appearance isn't necessarily the issue. It's the fact that the fae are meant to be seen as difderent to the humans and yet they barely are.

So many interesting things about the Fae, from their behaviour to their culture and magic and rituals, all the funky little things humans do to ward off or stop the fae, down the drain. And if I'm being completely honest, I believe SJM isn't a competent enough writer to pull off the complexities that make the fae, fae. It feels almost disrespectful to call these characters fae.

(I am no expert in fae mythology. But from all that I've seen and read, these characters just aren't it.)

[thevalkyriesshadow]

People saying SJM will write Elucien because she's not going to make poor baby Lulu (PBL) suffer again because he's one of her favorites ....

My brother in Christ.

They're ALL her favorites. It's her fucking book. They're her fucking characters.

Now if we were going to RANK her favorite characters, I still don't even think Lucien would make top 5. He's not a part of the IC for a reason - and considering that SJM has chosen to write about them over him - tells us enough about the ranking of her faves. It's always going to be:

1. Rhys / Feyre

2. Nesta

3. Azriel

4. Cassian

5. Elain

6. Amren

7. Mor

8. Lucien

And honestly placing Lucien at 8 is still debatable. His storyline has been reduced more and more with every single book. I'd say he was definitely up there with Feyre in Book 1 - but since ACOMAF his character quality and page persona has declined steadily. Significantly.

Idk if y'all have ever read a book or written anything - but typically a writer who likes a certain character ... writes about that character. A lot more than she writes about her other characters. That character might've started as a minor one or even background character - but the writer likes them so much they find a way to put them in the page more, finds a way to work them into the story. See what SJM did with Ithan Holstrom in CC. With Fenrys. They were introduced as minor characters and then became a big part of the story.

The exact OPPOSITE is happening with Lucien. It's not a slow burn - it is erasure.

If he is such a favorite - where is he?

Also what makes you think SJM isn't going to make her favorites suffer? Y'all saw what Aelin went through. Saw what Rhys went through. I don't like to compare traumas - but Lucien's trauma pales in comparison to some of the other harrowing backstories we've seen in ACOTAR itself. Genuinely I think whatever Rhys, Elain, Nesta, Azriel, Emerie, Gwyn went through is far worse than what Lucien went through. Not saying he didn't suffer - but the argument that SJM wouldn't have him lose his mate because she likes him is so ridiculous.

Let's stick to the books. And I mean the actual text in the books - not farfetched headcanons and fanfics and theories and claims of extrapolation "foreshadowing".

SJM can change her mind and her opinions and her interviews and her Pinterest boards. What she can't change is the story she's laid out for 4 books now. What she can't change is the direction her characters are taking her in and the words she's already written.

Hi anon

I hope you feel better after getting that off your chest... sometimes you just gotta rant

BUT

I would like to make a few points

1. I do write stories (beyond fanfics) and yes I have favorite characters I write but if I spent as much time writing about a character as SJM did with Lucien, that character has a story to be told. He's connected to many characters in the story and is mated to one of the Archeron sisters (who the stories being told in ACOTAR are ultimately about). To say he is being written off the page just because he wasn't as prevalent in ACOSF for example is a bold statement (he really had no ties to Nesta's storyline so it makes sense he wasn't in it as much) but a storyline he is connected to? Elain's - whose book we will inevitably get.

2. I don't like how you say his trauma is not as bad as the others. It's not okay to compare people's traumas. What might not seem like an emotional/psychological/physical traumatic event to one person doesn't mean it's not devastating to another.

3. SJM can absolutely change what she's already written... She is the god of ACOTAR afterall. She can do as she pleases. A perfect example of this is when she retconned that Azriel was present in Sangravah when it was attacked. Making him the first one there, the one to slaughter all the soldiers in one room, and save Gwyn from further harm. Previously, we were to believe he was just informed, but SJM changed that with what she wrote in ACOSF.

Hope you have a wonderful day anon!

[separatist-apologist]

At this point I just like your posts with just skimming through it because I know your big, mature brain won't let me down with your opinions

And I need people know sjm is NOT a good writer lol. Just because she's famous doesn't mean she's the best one out there. Acotar is a missed opportunity at best. And most people who are hard-core fan of these book thinks these books are perfect and not because sjm keep retconing and changing and forgetting her own goddamn plot so they take everything for what it is. I've seen people criticised Mor and Feyre for leaving some dreamers at CoN and they don't care about them. No babes sjm just forgot about it all fkn together!!!

Okay I have thoughts about this. I'm once again slapping it under a cut just because its long. These are just my thoughts, feel free to disagree

There is nothing wrong, just to be clear, with SJM being a person's favorite writer. I think she is an entertaining writer and I think begrudgingly everyone in this fandom needs to admit that. I think she creates very interesting characters and places that people want to know more about and her writing is very accessible which feels like a burn but I swear isn't.

I don't think she's a bad writer, personally, but I do think she's just not interested in her own details or worlds the way her fans are, and I think this is true across every book series she's written. I think her problem is she writes the way I do- she knows how her stories end, she has a few key scenes in mind, and she figures the rest out as she goes.

This felt pretty evident in TOG, too- you could watch in real-time as her plots changed and she undid things it felt like she'd been building toward. ACOTAR isn't any better in that regard because I GENUINELY do not think she knew what she was doing plotwise when she started the series and it came to her as she went which is why the whole Amarantha things feels so ?????????

Even in TOG, SJM is not interested in the political maneuverings of her characters, the governing process, her political landscape or ANY of the things that a lot of people get frustrated by, to circle to your CoN plot. I think she relies very heavily on "x says they care and I'm telling you they're a good person, so the assumption is they're also a good ruler and we don't need to explore that any further". SJM drops these little pieces of lore like about Mor's cousins or the women of Illyria or whatever and then doesn't do anything with it or even recognize, in my opinion, the conclusions her readers are drawing.

And I think its because to her, she's told you what you need to know. Rhys is a GOOD ruler because the people of Velaris love him AND because she tells us so. Tamlin is a bad ruler because he exacts taxes on his decimated population AND she tells us so. And when people examine those statements, it starts to crumble, in my opinion, which is why I think people get defensive. They don't CARE about the political workings of this world, they just want to read about hot people doing hot people shenanigans.

I do think that going to a SJM book for thoughtful worldbuilding and an interesting magic/political system is a mistake. Having read every series she's ever written, I do not think this is her strong suit and I'm tired of being told I only think so because of internalized misogyny. I think SJM is a good character writer- her characters are compelling, and even anti's typically have a favorite character they wish had been better fleshed out or had been done more with or would be better explored in future books.

This is all over the place- I'm just writing my thoughts as they come to me. Ultimately, I think SJM's books typically don't stand up to heavy scrutiny and that depending on what you're looking for in a book, you're going to come away with different levels of enjoyment. For me, I hadn't read anything fiction in like, six years because I'd been knee deep in academia and it was the first thing I read just for fun and it WAS fun. It IS fun, even now. It's a brain off read. For better or worse, ACOTAR isn't complicated or hard to understand- SJM tells her readers what to think AND feel all the time, so you don't really need to think about any of it.

But when you read other fantasy in her genre, it becomes clear that like...oh. This is just mediocre. In some places it feels like a poor retelling of other stories (TOG has HEAVY LOTR moments, for example) and thoughtless culture stealing that feels offensive in places (CC feels especially bad in this regard given how she's stitched together like, 3-5 different cultures without a good understanding of any of them).

I'm not saying anti's shouldn't still discuss their issues with it. But I will say that if you're looking for a well fleshed out world and a political system that is interesting to read and characters who are consistent and don't bow to the whims of the author and plot, you're probably going to have a hard time with ALL of SJM.

[wingsdippedingold]

My statement on ACOTAR characters

(unedited; really just a brain dump)

I know I use a lot of pro and anti tags when it comes to ACOTAR, and while I do have characters I like more than others, I really just dislike them as a whole. I think the series is poorly written and SJM is the one I actually hate.

I honestly can't really criticize or defend any character properly, because the characters themselves are just deficiently made. They all come from the same dumbass author. The main thing keeping me in the fandom are the actual people in it, because they have actual thoughts that make sense, and I find discussing the topics presened entertaining. So I don't wanna hear any "Well if you hate the books so much stop talking about them" bs

I don't hate Rhysand, in fact I think he has a lot of cool moments. I like the idea of him not bowing to anyone but his own people, so he got a knee tat of Velaris (even if I think its dorky). I enjoy his outlook on what's right, and I did genuinely like him early on. But I think the way SJM writes his actions (especially political ones) and their justifications incredibly disjointed poorly thought out. I think he's wrongfully used and justified and digs people into a bad way of thinking ethically because SJM has made no move to do anything but portray him as a white knight. Had the narrative acknowledge some of the things he's done as actually bad, in fact that most of them have bad outcomes for some even if they benefit others, I'd have no issue with him. SHe just writes him doing heinous things for reason and then is like "Oh but he's traumatized so its okay!"

I don't dislike Feyre, but I think she's often shoved into a backseat role in her own series. I know this is a multi-pov story, but seriously? How the fuck did SJM make Feyre's pregnancy climax to nothing more than more Nesta hate??? Why was her experience and thoughts just completely missing in the plot that literally revolved around her?? I find her flaws charming, and yet they're often forgotten or used to justify things that shouldn't be justified. I don't have any issue with her beyond the SC disaster. But, I think the fact that there's Feyre antis in general speaks to how bad of a writer SJM is. You can't even make people agree on liking your main fucking character? In fact most Feyre antis are Pro Nestas... which is ridiculous. How poorly do you have to write for people to pit sisters against each other WHEN YOUR MAIN TROPE IS FOUND FAMILY. The way SJM uses Feyre pisses me off endlessly

I think Feysand has its moments, and I don't hate anything about them specifically - but rather how they're presented and treated by the narrative. I think they make sense together, and I prefer them to Feylin, but I hate how SJM and fans bend over backward to justify everything.

I'm not a Nesta stan, I just think the narrative (and especially SF) is an injustice to real world issues and the logic used against her makes no sense in reference to the other characters. SJM says she loves her so much, but shows her none. I find the way the fandom treats her lacking empathy, and SJM has done nothing to actually better her character. I think its ridiculous no one acknowledge that she grew up in the same fucking cottage as Feyre with the same parents. SJM constantly dredges up new shit to pit her and Feyre against each other instead of just letting them be happy. She treats Nesta like she's irredeemable, and when she does "redeem" herself its literally in service to the people who are forcing her to fix herself??? She's used as a point for juvenile drama and placed in a cycle of being antagonized with no outlet to place blame. See my full thoughts on her here

I don't actually despise the ic, I think they all are just wasted and thrown into whatever whirlwind situation gives SJM a boner. I think Morrigan had so much potential, but SJM decided it would be better to use her for petty drama and forwarding a ship. I don't hate her because she doesn't do anything for the woman in the CoN, because quite frankly I don't think SJM has thought that far. I don't think Cassian's the worst man alive, but I think SJM has a poor grasp on him and what a healthy relationship (even in the bounds of a fantasy novel) is. And I just find Azriel particularly useless, he's not a thoughtful sensitive soul, he's just yet to be focused on. And I do not look forwards to the day he is, based on his first and only current pov.

I'm not a Tamlin stan, in fact I really don't care for his character, but I think he suffers from lazy writing and some severe character assassination. I think the switch up on his character after the first book is absolutely ridiculous.

I dislike how SJM throws Elain around and treats her like a little precious baby and making her out to be an airhead whos absolved from the same crimes Nesta's hated for.

I'm not an SJM fan, I'm an avid SJM hater. I actually despise her, and while I won't write out my entire long list of grievances with her here, just know that literally all of my issues with the series would be gone if she was just a better person and writer. Seriously, I think she lacks so much mechanical and analytical skill (which is crazy, she's been publishing books for 12+ years and written like 15) and I see no change in the future. She constantly retcons, switches characters up for whatever her narrative calls for, and sacrifices good character writing for a fast track to mediocre faerie smut.

I hate the way she sexualized Feyre's experience under the mountain. I hate the way she immediately objectified Feyre when she got pregnant (the blurb describing Feyre walking around while pregnant is insanely kinky and I hate it). I hate the way she throws around trauma and mental illness like cute little stickers so that she can pick and choose the aspects she thinks are cool. I hate that she's fucked up people's perception of abuse and mental illness. I hate the way she uses poc and steals credit for representation she didn't care to make. This isn't even all of it, its just what I can remember within the 9 minutes I spent writing this brain dump. SJM does not deserve more of my time 😭

If I was a character in the series I genuinely think I'd avoid all of them, because I don't care, and if I somehow did have to be cornered with any of them, I'd hate all of them. But If I ever faced up with the mother (aka Sarah), it'd be on sight. My hatred for her knows no bounds. Hate is a strong word, and one I used so many times in this post (something SJM does a lot too though, so I'm not worried, seriously get a thesaurus and stop using the same phrases every 6 pages) because it's true.

[herrinarte]

Ok so jumping off what I said about SJM probably never writing a book on Mor and if she did it would be terrible, I actually have a decent idea of what she could do if she had the balls to do it.

Right, so Velaris is the only city under Rhysand’s rule that is actually a safe place for people to live so naturally you’re going to get an uprising. Classic revolution against the rich and prosperous from the poor and tortured. A group of fae are causing a stir and Rhys gets spooked so he sends Mor to ‘sort them out’, but when she gets there she is confronted by the leader of the revolution, a fae woman from the CoN who tells her she has suffered for long enough and so have so many women, women like her and Mor.

It would be a whole book about Mor having to confront the fact that she had escaped the nightmare that so many women have no choice but to spend their whole life living in and eventually die in, and did nothing to help them. Having to face the reality that Mr feminist, it’s your choice, I need a lint roller, Rhysand, might not be a good ruler and only really makes changes that benefit himself and the people close to him.

The romance would be between her and the revolution leader as they fight back and forth, Mor trying to derail the revolution and the leader steam rolling ahead whilst showing Mor how corrupt the system that she works for is. Eventually Mor learns from her and is the first to fall in love and actually tries to make a difference in the world for her people because she genuinely cares about them now and the leader finally allows herself to open up and trust someone who used to be her enemy.

It would involve a lot of gay tension and heated arguments about politics and such but it would also solve the glaring issue of Rhysand being an obviously bad ruler that no one seems to address within the books or acknowledge.

Obviously Sarah would never do this because it would require her to 1) state in black and white that Rhys is a bad ruler and not a super cool, mega genius feminist who would totally rock at being a high king. 2) write like an actual queer story. 3) be political.

It’s kind of disappointing that she doesn’t do stuff like this though. I’m no best selling author, I have no credentials, but I can see a world that she made that she could use to say something. She has loads of characters sat at the sidelines, waiting to be something, and she just goes for what she knows every time. I get it, she writes the same story over and over because it works and sells, but as a writer shouldn’t you make yourself uncomfortable? Try to challenge yourself. She’s made so much money from her books she has the financial stability to take risks that other authors don’t. She could write anything and she’d at least get sales from the die hard fans.

I know some will say she doesn’t want to say anything, her books are escapism, but SJM consistently says she want women at the centre of her books, that she’s a feminist or whatever, and I’m just screaming THEN SAY SOMETHING OF WORTH GIRL.

Women are at the centre yet the lady of the autumn court is still unnamed after all these years, a prominent figure of political importance, the mother of a main character. Still no name. Come on, girl, really?

Anyway, rant 2 over. I really do think her books are fun if you turn off your brain for 6hrs but I can’t help but feel like Sarah is slacking, majorly. In 2024 we can do better.

[lovemyromance]

Everyone is always analyzing the characters and making headcanons for why certain characters act and I genuinely believe everything just goes back to :

SJM does not plan 😭 she has no greater outline (that we know of) and that's why she retcons everything all the time.

That's why Feyre thinks Elain is literally just dumb in ACOTAR, why we only see this cardboard one-sided bitchy personality from Nesta.

That's why Lucien was beron's son and then retconned to be Helion's son.

Why Moriel used to be a thing but then switched to Elriel

Why so many things are just ... off. Unexplainable. Odd.

It's so interesting to me. Most fantasy writers outline everything and then only do they start writing. It's so crazy to me that SJM doesn't...

Also why I believe there's no use analyzing her writing. She doesn't intentionally use any dramatic literary devices or elaborate foreshadowing. Most of her writing and "genius allusions" are literally by accident imo. I think we're giving her wayyyy too much credit.

Not saying she's a bad writer or anything, but I think her fan base is just trying to over analyze every detail of her books and assign meaning to things unnecessarily.

[tamlindudley]

What do you think about tamlins red flags or toxic behavior in book one? I think he absolutely displays it but people react disproportionately towards him considering the other relationships in sjms books and and a lot of romantasy in general.

I've read ACOTAR only once and only reread some scenes so I honestly could be wrong but I think his red flags are the whole lying about the curse thing and the refusal to talk/communicate clearly in many occasions. If there are others please tell me?

Personally the curse thing made sense and I could sense him actually feeling guilty about it too in some scenes. So I don't think hes horrible for trying something for Prythian's sake, and he sent Feyre back so I think that absolves him from the lying. As for the communication, it was def a problem lol. One example is the ritual night when he didnt explain to Feyre and Lucien had to. I however also think that as High Lord, dude never had to explain himself much. People listen to him so he assumed telling Feyre to stay put is enough, along with feeling weird about telling Feyre that he's gonna fuck someone and please don't show up or I might want to fuck you 🤣

I personally was also annoyed at the scene the day after he bites her because he didn't apologize but reread the scene and saw he was angry it the scene, which is valid in a way coz considering the fantasy aspects of the scene, Tamlin never consented to seeing her that night at all either? But the next scene while they don't go into detail, does mention that they apologized so that's good.

Idk, this isn't a perfect book and Tamlin isn't a perfect character but I'm in way too deep to see any other red flags lol so please elaborate anon.

And yes, I do think a lot of actions by other characters are way worse that Tamlin's. Eg: Rhysand drugging Feyre for weeks every night UTM like wat even is that and getting Clare killed.. like dude Rhysand was genuinely evil in ACOTAR.

But Tamlin is the scapegoat in this series, he's anything SJM wants him to be. Once a writer decides a character's integrity doesn't matter, anything can be pinned on them. The narrative keeps pushing that he's a dick, mostly from other people's perspective, when he's not really that bad in comparison and is in dire need if therapy.

[nikethestatue]

I don’t understand, why is it bad that SJM is an emotional writer? Will it be a bad thing when she writes Elain’s story and says there are things about Elain that remind her of herself?

I don't think it's a matter of good or bad.

I think it's a matter of consistency and continuity, especially when it comes to a series. You are a storyteller, and to tell a story, you need to be objective.

I think the endless holes that we see in SJM's writing, especially lately, is due to the fact that she either doesn't want to write something (because she doesn't feel like it), OR she avoids uncomfortable topics because she is too invested in characters and can't deal with them rationally.

An example is the relationship between the sisters in ACOTAR. Instead of writing something nuanced, thought-through, and really digging into the underlining reasons for behaviors, SJM just tossed it all aside, because she didn't feel like dealing with it.

Do we know why Nesta favored Elain? No

Why there was so much animosity between Feyre and Nesta? No

Has there been even ONE meaningful conversation between the sisters? No

If you are basing so much of your story on these relationships, especially this fractured situation between the 3 sisters, you need to be able to address it. Instead, she tosses one GRAND GESTURE in there, and everything is done.

And no, I absolutely do NOT WANT SJM to self-insert herself in Elain. The attractiveness of Elain's character is that she was different from 99% of SJM's female characters--she is kind, soft, cowardly, but also brave when needed, steadfast, genuinely emotional about things, resentful, stealthy. That's the character that we fell in love with. I don't need SJM inserting herself into what is already there. I want her to write a character, stick to the characterization, and not change Elain according to her whims.

[shadowqueenjude]

Now that we're on the sjm israel topic, no wonder the women doesn't care about her fandom, she's a pshyco zionist. Will be reading her shit online from now on. (Like I'm genuinely gagging rn I thought she was just this bad writer but apparently she's a murderer too??😭)

Yesssssss, pirate that shit without guilt, my friend. We don't support colonists or genocide sympathizers in this house.

(on that note, if you ever need help finding a link, hmu)

[ae-neon]

What I can't stand about Reese’s-Cup-Sand is that there is never a moment where he has genuine regret, or questions his actions, or shows sorrow, or his humbled in some way, shape, or form. He died twice, and yet he's still the same he was at the same of the series as where he is now. Stans bring up “Chapter 54” but all of that is an excuse to win Feyra’s (rather easily convincible) heart. He never makes generations to any of the Seasonal courts for his own actions or the “things he had to do under Amarantha”. Murdered an innocent girl and her whole family for no reason. Sexually assaulted, drugged and physically tortured his lover “because he had to” (and piss Tamlin off). Kidnapped and conspired with his new pet (that seems fair for Fey) to commit a genocide in Spring. And this is just the first fourth of this iceberg.

Meanwhile, Tamlin has actually paid for his actions. He realized that he fucked up majorly and, in his mind, is being punished for it.

Yes, exactly

Both Tamlin and Rhys do bad things and apologize and takes steps to redeem* themselves

(*redemption being favourable actions towards Feyre, not actually atoning for their behaviour to anyone else because sjm's and the readers self centred points of view are all that matters in these books)

But here's the thing. Tamlin faces the consequences, especially outside of the context of Feyre. He sits in the aftermath long after we turn the page.

He hurts Feyre, goes on a power trip and works with Hybern -> his Court has been in ruin for 3 books now. He is mentally and physically suffering. He's lost himself and those closest to him.

But Rhysand?

Other courts don't trust him - then he "steals" Feyre from Spring and steals the Book from Summer as his first diplomatic moves as a free man the fucking buffoon - but outside of a few looks and words, him literally working with Amarantha never causes long term harm to the NC?? Hell sjm even handwaves away the murder of children for Rhys.

We are told he was SA'd for 50 years UtM as a psuedo-excuse for him assaulting Feyre but besides having a few nightmares just when he needed to earn Feyre and the reader's sympathy, he suffers no mental or physical consequences? No in fact he cannot wait to have sex with Feyre any and everywhere

Rhysand can lie to Feyre, get caught, get scolded and in 2 pages Feyre will be monologuing about how cruel she was for acting that way towards him. Then he will do it again. And again. And again. There are no consequences to any of his actions.

He fails to protect Nesta and Elain but even their suffering doesn't fall on him. In fact, sjm and the reader will spin it into necessary at worst and actually great at best. Now they're Fae and have mates and live in Velaris, their depression and PTSD is a them problem not a him problem. He's so nice he'll even let Feyre see them before he fucks her when she returns from Spring.

Rhysand is acquitted on admission. All he needs to do is say 'yea, I did that' and we're supposed to go 'wow, he's so real and humble and obviously reformed so he doesn't need to be punished'

Anyways, I could ramble on and on. SJM is a manipulative writer and most of her fans are victims of her tactics.

[azsazz]

i was reading through your asks and i just wanna say i agree with sjm ruining characters for others but also just ruining characters for no reason. sjm is inconsistent with a lot of things but especially with every character's personality and behavior and that's honestly my biggest beef with her. like feyre is supposed to be just and kind unless when people cross her or whatever but instead of taking her revenge on tamlin she took it on his people (who she was worried about before) and then one of the first qualities feyre sees in rhys is that he's a good high lord except he's only good in velaris and the reasons behind aren't even actual reasons, everyone is bad in the hewn city? morrigan is a good example of that not being true, and in illiria the same thing? cass, az, emerie, his own mother are right there. there's also the change in cassian from his book to the others (even if that could be attributed to him being done with nesta treating him like shit) idk i feel like every character acts differently just for the sake of the plot or showing off and it feels like bad writing tbh. that's why i only read acotar and never tog (even tho i think id like aelin better) and would rather read fics about it because i genuinely think some fic writers take the character's personalities more into consideration than sjm

also im sorry im ranting on your page, i was rereading your fics and you're an amazing writer

PREACH.

Legit Feyre wrecking the entirety of the spring court and then asking them to join forces in the war ☠️ like, sure, I'm sure Tam had a really easy time telling his people they were going to ally with the people that ruined so much.

The whole Illyrian thing is super interesting as well and also because there has to be other cities, territories in the night court that we don't know about? or am i crazy to assume that and every court has one huge city that everyone lives in? like, why not take care of all of your people? "oh, the illyrians won't listen to my rules" but like, you're literally the most powerful ruler of the continent? do something?

the mother only knows what's going on with mor. i don't even care tbh she's incredibly boring to me.

no but literally previous cassian vs acosf cassian are two completely different people to me. i've heard people say that it's because the first books are in feyre's pov and the last if nesta's so of course the sisters are going to perceive the characters differently, but bro he was just mean. and rude. and yeah, the smut was good and all but come on, there was basically no alluding to him acting that type of way in the previous books, felt like it came from left field to me.

[tadpolesonalgae]

Okie i'll copy you for a bit a do the quote for each comment thing so i dont get lost hehe

I don’t know? I think to us as readers of the series I kind of agree, but then he cooperated with the alliance, and also I’m on the side that if anyone should be able to see through his mask it should be the IC since hello Rhysand? UTM? CoN???? The idea of a mask/persona???

honestly this is one of the million problems with acotar because yeah when i say the ic has no way of knowing that eris isn't all bad i mean sjm keeps writing the story like that but you're right it doesn't make any sense. i mean even apart from eris doing literally what rhys has been doing since forever, how am i suppose to believe that mor knows all truth or whatever her powers even are and that rhys is a mind reader, and azriel and amren are supposed to be able to read people so well, that azriel's shadows see things that others don't but they still think eris is as bad as beron. that and both eris and mor kinda have made it seem like there's something else there (i genuinely think sjm planned on making mor and eris mates or something but then people started calling her out on having no diversity and she made mor gay out of nowhere). im also pretty sure its common knowledge in the ic that yes eris dumped her over the border without any other help which sucks but he didn't actually hurt her (that was kier) and one look at the autumn court would be enough to tell them that mor would have been hurt even worse if beron had seen her so how did they not put 2 and 2 together. i guess he still hurt her enough and as her friends they probably wont ever forgive him but it doesnt make sense logically for them to still think eris is the same as beron

This might sound hypercritical or conflictive but I’m not writing/don’t want to write Mor to be a bitch? I like Mor and while it might add to the angst and drama to have her be cruel to reader I just wouldn’t be able to commit to it 😭 In my mind it was Mor acting on the hurt reader has caused her and while it was unnecessary, emotions should be let out?

im sorry to say but mor was in fact a bitch but i get what you're saying like she's justified in her anger (in a way) but yeah trying to make someone who just attempted suicide feel bad about themselves is beyond bitchy. but im saying this as someone who doesn't really like mor most times (to me there's no depth to her character tbh like she was just there as the obligatory female friend for feyre, if you compare how developed cass and az are to mor... yeah she just falls flat idk if its bc cass and az will become the main characters in their books and mor might not get one or if its just not so great writing coming from miss maas once more)

Azriel calling Mor out??? After some of the things he’s said to reader????

i feel like this could be a good turning point though. like imagine azriel heard it and calls her out and has to admit not only to himself but out loud about all the shitty uncalles for comments he's thrown reader's way but even while admitting to it, deciding that he wants to be better to her and calling out mor on her bullshit is one way of doing it. also calling out mor is especially significant because of the whole he was in love with her for 500 years (i refuse to go with sjm's shitty ass "he loved her for 500 years and one day just stopped" bullshit - if she was a decent writer who cared a little more about character growth and plot instead of superficial romance tropes and smut she would write a whole book for azriel with no love interest but of him finding his own way and letting go of his love for mor that lasted for 500 fucking years before ever thinking of making him fall for someone else anyway i digress)

That would be so ooc of reader but I think it would be funny (in theory) for reader to suddenly do a 180° and act with them how she does around Eris and snap something smart and sassy back 😭🤭

i hope the ic gets to see her being herself with eris though and realize they really dont know shit about her

But then also idk how much the ‘thinking loudly’ was amplified by Rhys and Feyre’s bond, so whether it would even apply to reader in that way?

honestly sjm refuses to explain anyone's powers or even how magic works atp so who knows

also i saw another ask of you going in on cc and i would like to join a little. i have to start by saying i havent read the books bc i didn't do anything wrong but from the bits I've seen her writing really has been going downhill and it shows the most in the cc books. i never thought she was an amazing writer tbh like acotar reads to me like a teenager book almost but with smut so it's supposed to be ya and if it wasnt for fanfic i wouldn't be here or even remember the books. i read the first one and already had to skim through some of it but then the 2nd one was a bit more promising, unfortunately the 3rd book was going downhill by the chapter, i dont even like to talk about acosf because how is that supposed to be a book about healing when everyone that's supposed to love nesta treats her like shit and most of it is just smut that does nothing at all for the plot. so im not surprised that not only has cc been having a lot of these critics but also that sjm doubled down on the smut in that book. i also heard some of the characters are kind of copy paste from acotar but again i havent read the books. i honestly dont even know if i'll read any other acotar book because they keep getting worse and whether elain ends up with az or lucien or az with gwyn or elain, i dont think sjm will be able to pull a good book out of it when there's this big mess between all of the characters i mentioned plus her insistence on making the ic act like assholes to each other, creating a found family to make it shitty is just dumb in my opinion, but i know for a fact im not gonna read any of the other sjm series (even though tog is supposed to be the best one) and even if i did i wouldnt touch the modern fantasy if it was the last book on earth tbh. technology ends up taking a lot of the magic out of fantasy and obviously im reading fantasy because i like magical aspects. one of the reasons the later books fell off for me too tbh, she started modernizing things too much (like leggings and cans of soup?? when there are no factories or anything?) like the spring court had so many fun magic things and then velaris was a city with clubs, the moonstone palace and the hewn city felt more magical at times than the court of dreams.

i also agree that one of the biggest problems with the later books is the amount of smut. i like smut as much as the next person and dont mind reading pwp but in fanfictions not in books i pay for and that are written by professional authors. sjm tries less and less to write good characters and to keep up a plot because she knows her fantasy books were one of the first of the "spicy fantasy romance" to become popular and she's not losing that place and smut sells so who cares about a good story? definitely not her.

and with the bryce thing you're absolutely right, from what i've read she acts like a petulant selfish child most of the time and correct me if i'm wrong but she's not supposed to be like 19 like feyre so she's a grown ass woman. and yeah i definitely think sjm made her plus size because again she got called out for having no diversity in her books but treats it really weirdly. im someone who may not be plus size but pretty close to it and the way sjm writes bryce definitely gives me weird vibes. what i've seen most and even some people talk about is that a lot of characters keep mentioning how they're attracted to bryce, like sjm doesnt expect us ymto believe bryce is really hot by the descriptions she's made unless she keeps reminding us that people wanna fuck her. idk it may just be a bit of my trauma reading into it

im sorry if this ran too long im a bit drunk apologies - 🧶

Warnings: CC spoilers!, plus a little more slander, please consider looking away if you like the series! 🧡💛

‘when i say the ic has no way of knowing that eris isn't all bad i mean sjm keeps writing the story like that’

Right? Please miss Maas I want everyone to get along and be happy, let the drama between Eris and Mor be solved so that everyone can be happy and peaceful 😭

‘how am i suppose to believe that mor knows all truth or whatever her powers even are and that rhys is a mind reader, and azriel and amren are supposed to be able to read people so well, that azriel's shadows see things that others don't but they still think eris is as bad as beron.’

Also we’re kind of kept in the dark about specifics too? Mor’s just said to have ‘truth’ but what does that mean!! Can she force people to tell the truth? Can she see things in their true form?? Has she come out of the cave and seen the sun and the shadows it casts???? (Plato’s cave reference 😎)

Like I can understand to a degree why Rhys doesn’t look into people’s minds and appreciate that part of his character—that while he is morally greyish he has his own rules if that makes sense? He has his own perception of right and wrong which makes him interesting? But I might be confusing canon with fanon here 🫣

And yes I can see how miss Maas has written the IC to be flawed and Eris even says how Rhys is blinded by his love for his family so he has trouble seeing truths or discrepancies in those around him?

‘(i genuinely think sjm planned on making mor and eris mates or something but then people started calling her out on having no diversity and she made mor gay out of nowhere).’

Haha I hadn’t thought of it like that!

I’m still unsure what I’d choose between no representation vs. bad representation? On one hand it’s kind of disheartening/irritating to see sexuality used as such a cheap plot point? Unless miss Maas expands on it properly it’ll feel kind of useless to me? But then on the other hand representation is representation, like at least it’s becoming more prevalent in general media? I think another angle is some of the issues with acotar wouldn’t be as problematic as they are if the book series wasn’t so popular? But because it’s liked by so many people it’s also under much more intensive scrutiny when I don’t know if Miss Maas even planned for it to be taken so seriously as it is in some places? Not that the analysis is a bad thing, though, it’s interesting to see different things pointed out if I’d missed them the first time? (Particularly with Emerie and her descriptions of beauty? I hadn’t noticed it in the first read through but then saw some other people pointing it out, as well as other things?)

‘but he didn't actually hurt her (that was kier) and one look at the autumn court would be enough to tell them that mor would have been hurt even worse if beron had seen her so how did they not put 2 and 2 together.’

I suppose while Eris didn’t hurt her, Mor was in an extremely vulnerable position and the with Eris already being from the autumn court it would be easy to make the assumption that he would have inherited the beliefs in his father? Also with the saying of ‘if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem’—I think that’s contextual, but for the sake of the point it’s making, I’m using it here—Eris didn’t do anything to help Mor that we know of, and also according to Mor’s narrative Eris said some cruel things, but then on the other hand since Eris hasn’t done or said anything exactly to contradict what Mor’s said so I’m not going to blame the IC for being protective and standing with her on what was likely an extremely traumatising moment for her? Honestly I guess it would be kind of weird and shitty if they doubted her to be honest 😭

‘im sorry to say but mor was in fact a bitch but i get what you're saying like she's justified in her anger (in a way)’

I expressed myself wrong, sorry 😭

Mor definitely said something bad, but I’m not going to write her in cbmthy to continue making horrid comments like that when nobody else is around, it was kind of a one-off thing so hopefully she won’t be a bitch in the rest of the story, just temporarily 🤭🧡💛

‘yeah trying to make someone who just attempted suicide feel bad about themselves is beyond bitchy.’

Hard agree, I might even have to say it was a little uncalled for 🫣😳🫢

‘to me there's no depth to her character tbh like she was just there as the obligatory female friend for feyre, if you compare how developed cass and az are to mor...’

I think in the books/canon she’s a bit contradictory? Maybe? With how harsh she is with Nesta and how gentle she is with Feyre? I can understand it I suppose, thinking of it through Mor’s perception, but it does sometimes feel like Mor was added just to be the one to add drama to the books? There might be something to say about how Mor and Amren are written as female characters as opposed to the batboys who we’re supposed to like and are romantic interests? Fanon Mor though 🧡💛🫂😭

‘like imagine azriel heard it and calls her out and has to admit not only to himself but out loud about all the shitty uncalles for comments he's thrown reader's way’

Okay so this is something I (maybe unnecessarily? I’m genuinely not sure) want to stretch out for a bit and give it time so it doesn’t magically disappear? With Azriel facing some of the things he’s said to reader and why they were so hurtful to her? I think him knowing she tried to kill herself will speed things up, but only to a certain degree since there’s still a lot they don’t know about one another?

‘i refuse to go with sjm's shitty ass "he loved her for 500 years and one day just stopped" bullshit’

I guess one might be able to argue he was naturally coming out of it already but it there’s no evidence to really support that? I guess it would be difficult to implement it though due to the nature of where the story started and who it follows, but it would have made more sense in my opinion if we somehow got to see Az beginning to lose feelings for Mor, but because that would require something to be set before Feyre came along I guess it would be impossible 😭

‘i hope the ic gets to see her being herself with eris though and realize they really dont know shit about her’

They probably will, however reader is the one who intentionally or not does change how she acts around people? To a certain extent reader does try to act more ‘appropriately’ around them? Like she would never speak to Rhys the way she speaks sometimes to Eris 😭 Though I can imagine it might be funny if she accidentally did and then slapped her hand over her mouth because she hadn’t meant to 😭

‘i never thought she was an amazing writer tbh like acotar reads to me like a teenager book almost but with smut’

I was wondering, did you know anything about acotar before you started reading it? I went in blind since a friend recommended it to me, so I had no idea about how popular it was or anything, but I can see how if someone had heard how hyped up people were about it and then read it, it might fall flat and be super disappointing?

‘but also that sjm doubled down on the smut in that book.’

I know I feel quite strongly that Bryce and Hunt didn’t really have that much of an emotional connection compared to their physical one? Though to be fair I also love seeing emotional vulnerability so maybe it was just a difference in taste? If you’re someone who liked that kind of lust-fuelled romance that’s fine, but personally it wasn’t my cup of tea :/

It also felt like when Bryce and Hunt introduced that ‘no sex’ rule (I think maybe in CC2) it was Miss Maas realising she hadn’t built up and kind of tension between them and had jumped into sex way too quickly and so was trying to dial it back which irritated me? I skipped over I think all of the sex scenes in CC2 because I just wanted them to hurry along and get back to the plot? Also I feel like Miss Maas was trying to make them kind of freaky to appeal to the smutty side, like with the dry humping, the electricity (I think a vibrator might have also been used but I skimmed the scenes so I can’t remember) it was just too much for me when I wanted to read about what was happening and wasn’t interested in their relationship at all 😭

‘i honestly dont even know if i'll read any other acotar book because they keep getting worse’

I know I won’t be reading another CC book and will just wait for someone to very kindly write a summary for it, but I’m desperately hoping she won’t mess up another acotar book 😭

If she does though, isn’t it such a relief we have fanfiction? 😭

‘like the spring court had so many fun magic things and then velaris was a city with clubs, the moonstone palace and the hewn city felt more magical at times than the court of dreams.’

I absolutely adore that factor in fantasy books! I particularly like Holly Black’s version of fae, where they live off the land more and are much more tricky to deal with? More folklore-esque, and I wish we saw more of that kind of thing in acotar 😭 I agree the Spring Court with the will-o-wisps was so lovely—To Old Gods is one of my favourite pieces in that aspect and I want to write and read more of that kind of ancient/slightly mythical/sometimes eldritchy magic 😭

‘i also agree that one of the biggest problems with the later books is the amount of smut. i like smut as much as the next person and dont mind reading pwp but in fanfictions not in books i pay for and that are written by professional authors.’

I used to enjoy reading smut in books (I only started reading regularly and realising I enjoyed it in the past four years) because it was new and exciting but I think now if it’s in professionally written books I absolutely adore it and author has nailed emotional connection? And yes, pwp in fanfiction? Great! Love it! But the amount of smut in CC was unbelievable and I suppose that might be how you feel about acosf? I have to admit I liked it but I think it’s heavily to do with enjoying the characters 😭 Bryce and Hunt in CC? I don’t want to read about that, please spare my eyes 😭😞

‘so who cares about a good story? definitely not her.’

I think I disagree with you here? Maybe? I can’t remember the CC books in particularly great detail? 😭 I think actually for the most part I did find the plot parts a little slow, and Bryce and Hunt made it worse for me, however I loved the ending to CC2, and I enjoyed the asteri story but I think the power levels got out of control? (Don’t even get me started on how Bryce literally doesn’t earn her magic, it infuriates me so much!!! Feyre, Aelin, and Nesta all went through some kind of training and Bryce literally just touches a stone then inherits starlight and has the audacity to say she worked for it? Babes, no.)

And actually with miss Maas being lazy in writing—her using a pill so that Bryce can understand the acotar world was so obviously a deus ex machina. It was so cheap and basic there wasn’t a single amount of thought that went into it.

‘and correct me if i'm wrong but she's not supposed to be like 19 like feyre so she's a grown ass woman.’

Yup. She’s twenty-three 😐

‘what i've seen most and even some people talk about is that a lot of characters keep mentioning how they're attracted to bryce, like sjm doesnt expect us ymto believe bryce is really hot by the descriptions she's made unless she keeps reminding us that people wanna fuck her.’

Honestly that wasn’t that big of an issue for me? Like I get it’s fantasy so I can excuse every love interest and even some who aren’t being attracted to the fmc, but I did definitely have an issue with how lust-fuelled and physical it was 😶‍🌫️

Like with Feyre and Tarquin it’s made clear they’re both attractive/beautiful people but I got the impression that ultimately they liked (?) one another for who they were? To an extent they had a kind of understanding and felt more honest?

‘idk it may just be a bit of my trauma reading into it’

Not sure how much it will help but I’m sending you internet hugs :/ 🫂🫂🫂

‘im sorry if this ran too long im a bit drunk apologies - 🧶’

Haha, don’t apologise it was fun getting to discus all these things with you!! 🧡💛

[watcherintheweyr]

This.

And honestly the fact that Azriel was able to attack Eris with no repercussions, that Beron couldn't get through his shadows, that Eris - literal heir to Autumn, general of autumn, therefore by worldlore laws, obscenely powerful- was taken that off guard and that helpless against it, makes no sense. It just reads as SJM desperately trying to show how Special and Different the Night Court is bc they don't play by the established world lore, aren't they so amazing?

Azriel shouldn't have been able to do that. He shouldn't be able to overpower the heir to Autumn or hold off an enraged High Lord- and he absolutely should not have had no repercussions for doing so. (And do not bring up the spell that made the HL powerless bc Feyre was able to blaze passed that w no issues when all of her power CAME FROM THE HIGH LORDS) It would make sense if Eris had allowed him to have the upper hand in that moment, to play a part (though i highly doubt SJM would actually go that route, nuance in plotlines is not her strength), but if it was genuine then like... why the fuck did the Night Court need anyone to help them in the war?

If the IC are genuinely All more powerful than the High Lords and their heirs, all of whom literally ARE magic. Chosen by the land and the Cauldron, then they shouldn't have needed aid in besting Hybern, and then Rhys sealing away the IC whilst Amarantha held them all prisoner reads very much as that he wanted that to happen- he wanted the courts to be put through 50 years of hell, torture, and murder. Because if the IC is THAT powerful, together they could've torn Amarantha into pieces.

If Rhys **genuinely** is more powerful than every other high lord, if he truly could've held true on that threat to take over all of their minds and forced them to give him what he wanted, then it makes absolutely no fucking sense that the other high lords resurrected him.

It's either Feyre being ignorant and brainwashed, or SJM is literally that bad of a writer.

Feyre’s lack of political awareness and need to dickride the IC in any circumstance is actually astounding. Especially during the High Lords’ meeting when she just assumed her little gang is somehow better than everyone else

Feyre during the HL meeting: yeah Mor & Azriel could take on all 6 High Lords in a battle, no problem🥰

MY GIRL YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THESE PEOPLE!!! YOU’VE KNOWN EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM FOR LIKE 6 MONTHS MAX!!!! And you were a human who knew nothing about them before that!!!!

Genuinely, have we even seen Mor or the Bat Boys do anything that warrants them being stronger/better than the guys who are literally magic personified??? The mfs who have been picked specially by a higher power, mind you. I’m sorry, but the Inner Circle is getting obliterated if it’s them against the High Lords 😭

[nikethestatue]

If we elriels happened to be wrong no one can really said we were delusional. The 3X3 connection in the series, MC noticing elriel, the fact that they have a couple name death and the lovely fan and that BC just confirmed that elriels are not delusional that there is something between them. When antis call us dumb and delusional they are just reflecting fear because is canon they want each other noone can denied it. So if for some reason sarah doesn’t want to write elriel because of elain hate no elriel should feel dumb we read it right we got it right but is another thing if the author just decided to change the couple to please fans. Will i feel bad that they are not endgame of course but i will not feel dumb the canon is there telling us regardless of what happens we elriels didn’t read wrong. I have so many elriels feelings discouraged this week after reading HOFAS and it just no right when we are one of the few ship that actually base on canon

So here is what I've learned and, unfortunately, came to realise with SJM and this fandom:

everyone, every side, heavily over-indexes on theories.

Here is the biggest issues and the biggest problem with theorizing about anything that SJM writes--she is an emotional writer. The worst kind of an emotional writer, who uses her characters as vehicles for her own emotional releases. And when it comes to a writer that genuinely falls in love with her characters, that uses them as therapy, that has all these emotional entanglements with them, that hates them, that fantasizes about them--nothing could be theorized in good faith. Because when an emotional writer writes, common sense goes out the window.

We can think 'my god, she's been writing about this for 3 books now, surely this will come to some fruition!' but then, nothing happens, because an emotional writer writes according to their feels and not their plan.

I think since ACOTAR she's become more and more of that kind of writer. Considering her endless gushing over Rhys, her hour long interviews about how she lived through Nesta and how she wrote all of ACOSF as a weird self-help sex fanfic--all of it points to the fact that she allows her current state of mind guide her writing.

I think once she ended the trilogy, plus ACOFAS, she couldn't follow her own plan. A lot of the future books and storylines were set up in ACOFAS, but she veered off the path and started writing random stuff. It definitely shows. Her 3 last books were the longest and also the weakest of all her books.

So I agree with you--the theories ARE correct and the deductions that were made based on her writing ARE correct.

However, whether she is going to actually write what she intended on writing is a whole different question. And sadly, it makes all the theorizing, very wishy washy. It goes for everyone--Elriels, who have the strongest-positioned theories, Gwynriels, even Bryceriels. (Eluciens don't theorize because there is a bond and that's all they care about).

But yes, anything could happen, and nothing might happen. It's not because anyone was wrong, but mostly because SJM lives in her deep feelings.

[southsidestory]

Am i the only one who genuinely doesn't want a Mor (and Emerie) Novel?

SJM's books are usually very sex based and i just know that if she wrote a book centred around a wlw relationship it would turn out so bad. She already uses loads of stereotypes in her books and considering she's a straight woman herself i just don't see a Mor novel turning out that well.

I think the Emorie ship would turn out much more successful in the background of another characters book (e.g. Azriel's) than SJM attempting to write something that may end up offending a large majority of the fandom.

First of all, I am SO sorry that this has sat unanswered for a million years. I struggled how to answer it at first, and then the universe decided to pummel me in the months since, so I've horribly neglected my inbox.

I have mixed feelings on the issue of a Mor/Emerie novel. SJM has definitely made some yikes choices wrt queer representation, but I do think it's clear that even with stereotypes flying left and right that the rep is well-intentioned.

Does that mean that queer people should celebrate the crumbs of rep that authors give us, even if they're kind of stale and scattered in the background? No, of course not. (Please pretend that that metaphor worked. It's 1 a.m. and I'm in a lot of pain.)

Good intentions pave the road to hell, after all.

But good intentions poorly executed can be worked with. In my ideal scenario, SJM pays attention to complaints about the problematic aspects of her queer rep. She listens, she learns, she puts in the work, and she does better.

That is my hope. Not necessarily my expectation, but it's what I'd like to see. However, if SJM has no interest in addressing those problems and continues writing her queer characters the same way... then yes, I'm with you. Please leave Mor and Emerie in the background, where all of us fic writers can give them the love story they deserve.

One last thing I want to address, though, is that unless SJM has said "I'm straight" (which she may have, but if so I don't know about it) I'd rather not assume that she's straight.

Because making that assumption is how Becky Albertalli, the author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (aka the book that Love, Simon was adapted from) was forced out of the closet. Readers got up in arms over a straight woman writing about queer teenagers, and the only way Albertalli could save her reputation and stop the shitstorm was by coming out before she was ready to. Which is ironic beyond words, considering that the book in question is about a gay teen being dragged out of the closet and publicly humiliated. There are many other examples, some even worse. (See: the Isabel Fall disaster.)

My point is, there are many, many problems with #OwnVoices, and one is how it uses an author's identity to determine who's allowed to tell what kinds of queer stories. Because now that that has become the standard, no closeted author is able to write about their own experiences safely. It also exacerbates biphobia in the publishing industry, but I won't go there right now.

I'm not saying that you mean that. Your issue with SJM and queer rep is obviously that the rep she's given thus far is not up to par. But I wanted to touch on the problems with #OwnVoices because it's relevant, and it's something that matters to me as a queer author trying to get published. <3