Ava here, wanting to address this ask and some of the replies.
I’m not going to speak “for” Steph, because we haven’t personally discussed the extent of what’s happening on Twitter - we’re both adults and don’t really have time for it. But, as someone who knows Steph (and definitely knows her thoughts on SJM books), I just want to clarify some things - first of all, thank you @gwynrjel and anyone else who has understood that words were twisted. I appreciate that! Second, I feel like I just want to make it extra-super-duper clear: the Maastastic lives are not official SJM events in any way, regardless of Steph’s friendship with her, and they are absolutely not prepared for. Steph pops up a question box on Instagram, maybe marks a few that are interesting, and moves on - I rarely have any idea what’s going to be discussed until we’re there, live, drinking and having a nice time. The Maastastic episodes are ways for us to “shoot the shit” as you will, so when a theory comes up and either of us says “Oh I like that” or “That’s interesting” it doesn’t mean that Sarah has confirmed anything (Steph purposely doesn’t ask Sarah for spoilers); it doesn’t mean we even think it will be endgame; it doesn’t even necessarily mean we want it to happen, but we haven’t had time to gather our thoughts, our brains are running a mile a minute, and, basically, we just react. It kind of bums me out that people have extrapolated on so many aspects of our personal opinions (or even our personalities) based on a few quotes (that require context) or deer-in-headlights moments. Again, I won’t talk for Steph, and I know that we’re not perfect, and I know that a lot of the time we’re simply reacting, maybe not in elegant or eloquent ways, but that’s what knee-jerk reactions are - so it frustrates me when people assume that our answers are “deep” or explain the nuance of what we’re talking about. We’re having fun. These aren’t written posts. We’re not mulling things over (how boring would it be if, after every question, there was a 2 minute intermission where we think about all the odds-and-ends, all the problematic aspects to every theory...personally, I wouldn’t watch anything like that).
Regarding Elain: both Steph and I have said on multiple occasions that we like Elain (Steph especially called out “sassy” Elain - it was awesome to see in ACOSF!). That being said, neither Steph nor I feel that we have enough Elain content to make theories and/or assumptions about her. I do not feel that I have seen enough Elain to then theorize or talk about Elain, personally (I’m relatively confident that Steph agrees). Do not misunderstand me: when I say that we don’t have “enough Elain content” I don’t mean “We don’t have enough ‘badass’ Elain content.” As I stated in one of our lives, Elain’s kindness is an incredibly quality, given the trauma she’s gone through. I don’t mean that the content we’ve received is “boring” (a word I have never used to coincide with Elain; if anyone is saying I’ve called Elain boring, they are absolutely lying), and I don’t mean that what we’ve gotten (traditionally “feminine” roles ie. gardening, baking, housecare, etc.) are not “worthy” of exploration. I’m saying what I mean: I don’t have enough of it - of her. Steph and I are both extremely fond of Nesta because we relate to Nesta; I have a harder time relating to Elain, and I’ll admit that. It doesn’t mean I don’t find her “worthy” or that I don’t think she deserves to be happy - neither of us have ever said that. But we’ve been honest in the fact that we relate to Nesta on a deeper level; therefore we find her more entertaining (to us, obviously not everyone will agree), and we were more invested in her story. But I think we can also all agree that Nesta received more page time in the original ACOTAR trilogy and, again, when Elain appeared in ACOSF, I didn’t spy enough moments where I truly felt comfortable commenting on what might happen to her down the road (because she didn’t appear terribly often...this is just facts).
Which leads me to my next point: I know it’s annoying by now, but to reiterate, I’m not talking for Steph. I’m talking about what I’ve said and felt, and informing y’all about how I *think* Steph feels, so take it all with a grain of salt. Steph and I don’t theorize in our spare time - we get presented with theories made by the fandom, then comment on them. Regarding Eris and Mor - rewatching the live, I don’t feel that either of us advocated for them to get together (*barf*) - only that it is a possibility that they’re mates (we’ve only heard Rhys’s speculation about how the mating bond works, we don’t know the ins-and-outs, we don’t know if it acknowledges sexual preferences). Nor do I feel that Steph (or I) insinuated that Mor was lying about her sexuality, even if our rush to explain our thoughts made it feel that way: all we were saying is that it’s possible that Mor is lying about something. Mor has not been truthful with the Inner Circle, particularly Azriel, about her true preferences - and Steph and I are fine with that. Her sexuality is her business and she should get to tell whoever she wants to and no one else. That does not erase the fact that she slept with Cassian and Helion, which thereby, to someone who doesn’t know she prefers females, makes it plausible that she is straight or genuinely enjoys men and therefore could hypothetically fall for Az - and she has made no effort to correct that assumption. Which, again, is fine! But it doesn’t change the fact that she’s not being wholly truthful. Which is like a drop of ink in the water - we haven’t spent much time in Mor’s head, so what else is she not being honest about? (Not even regarding her sexuality, but perhaps about Eris!). Our speculation lay in the fact that maybe something happened in the Autumn Court that Mor hasn’t deigned to share (which doesn’t change the fact that she went through some trauma and it doesn’t make Eris a good person, but it simply says that Mor’s side of the story...isn’t the only side).
Regarding Elain and Koschei: I’m here for Dark!Elain. Not because I don’t want her to be happy (I do. Wanting a Dark!Elain plotline doesn’t mean I want her to end up as a miserable villain. It simply means I would be curious to see her become a villain because I, personally, as a reader, find the descent-into-villainy trope to be a fascinating one. I don’t think it’s one Sarah has explored before, so it could be super fascinating!). I simply think Dark!Elain could be a really interesting narrative, and we know that people (both real and fictional) underestimate Elain - I could imagine her getting fed up with that and trying to prove everyone wrong by going down the villainous path (for a time). But again, this is just me spitballing. It would be interesting to see, but who knows if it’ll happen. It’s just a fan theory, and not even one Steph or I came up with. Now, Elain and Koschei: when I said I’d like to see her “get together” with Koschei, I wasn’t entirely referring to a sexual relationship. But he’s being set up to be a Big Villain, and who better to learn villainy from (if Dark!Elain is indeed the plot, which it might not be!) than from the Big Villain? I haven’t spoken to Steph about it, but I will tell you this: neither of us EVER advocate for non-consensual sexual relationships. Ever. Period. The Mor/Eris mating bond is interesting, but I would jump out a window before imagining them in bed together because neither of them would want to be there (if Mor, who occasionally craves dick as she said per ACOWAR, brings a man into the *bedroom* with whichever woman she ends up with, and they both consent, that’s their business - but I would never want it to be Eris). Whenever (WHENEVER) we imagine a sexual relationship, no matter how implausible, we’re doing so under the assumption that it would be consensual. No one wants Elain to “offer her body to Koschei in exchange for Vassa’s curse being broken,” that’s fucked up. We’re simply saying that if Elain goes down a more manipulative, villainous path, maybe she’ll seduce Koschei, gain his trust, and then trick or manipulate or overpower (or whatever) him into breaking Vassa’s curse. But if we’re imagining Elain in his bed, it is only through the lens of her choosing to be there. Not as an offering, or as a sacrifice, but perhaps as a seductive agent of chaos or double agent or whatever - but always consensual. I can acknowledge that maybe we don’t word things 100% clearly - but I find it alarming that people are so quick to believe that Steph and I would advocate for r*pe. Or that we’re misogynistic and hate Elain simply because we haven’t spoken much about her. Not that this is the case, as we’ve both stated that we like Elain despite not feeling that we know much about her, but since when did all women have to automatically love all women? I can be a feminist and not immediately fall head over heels for every woman I cross paths with; I think I’ve been apparent in my critique of the men in the series, so it doesn’t make me a hater-of-women if I am...also critical of the actions of the women in the series (and this even goes for Nesta, whom I love, but have admitted can be a dick at times).
I’m not going to “justify” Steph and I not talking about Elriel as a plausible ship because, frankly, neither of us ship it (anymore). And that’s just our opinions. Maybe we’ll look like fools when the next book comes out - so be it. If someone’s need for vitriol stems from the fact that they don’t like that Steph and I happen to have an audience and will talk about how we don’t like Elriel that much...that’s not my problem. Especially considering we both just want Azriel and Elain to be happy (and maybe that will mean they end up together - who’s to say). “Sexriel” means we want Azriel to get laid, because given the fact that his dick is about to explode...maybe he just wants some release. Why is speculating on a consenting adult having sex [even with someone who isn’t your fave] a bad thing?
I genuinely didn’t mean to turn this into an essay, but I’ve been reeling from the fact that Steph and I have been dubbed “misogynistic” and “women haters.” Slandering someone’s name across the Internet in 2021 is actually...a serious thing. We’re adults; we have jobs. That kind of thing can be hugely damaging - and our names were mentioned, not our IG profile names, but our actual names. If those people were genuinely teenagers, then maybe they shouldn’t have been “doxxed,” but I don’t know how Steph was supposed to know how old these people were - furthermore, I was a teenager recently. And I will tell you that I was a spiteful teenager - but I still knew what it would mean to call someone a misogynist/sexist/homophobe, what-have-you, on the Internet. No, teenagers aren’t adults - but they’re not complete buffoons. And if they’re existing during the MeToo movement, they absolutely know that making accusations on the Internet is not ~just a fun thing you can do~. Allegations about misogyny are not okay. Interpreting words in a way that makes you upset doesn’t immediately justify blasting people on Twitter. If you’re that upset, talk about it in the groupchat.
I hope this clarified some of our points, and where we (or at least I) was coming from.
