my reasons for averygrayson being endgame:
(because i’m losing faith and need to remind myself)
there’s always been a trend in which the m/c chooses the first love interest // the one first introduced particularly in the ya genre. we’ve seen this with will/tessa, mare/cal, alina/mal (unfortunately) etc. therefore my hope is that j.l.b follows this trend and doesn’t diverge with ave choosing jamie.
she’s also mentioned on twitter the main inspiration behind this relationship is the damon/elena/stephan triangle in the vampire diaries. who does elena meet first? damon. who does elena choose despite having been in a long term relationship with his younger brother, who everybody thinks she initially was going to end up with and preferred? damon. the parallels are so obviously there and leaning in avery/grayson’s favour.
i also wanted to briefly mention the amount of book-equivalent-screen-time (page time if you will) that jameson got in ‘t.h.l’ — this threw me off ngl but i do think it might be a method of 1) appeasing the avery/jameson people, giving them something to be satisfied with romance wise if she does choose gray and 2) we know j.l.b loves a plot twist. what would be more twisty than making everybody think ave prefers jamie and then having her choose gray (there are lots of subtly dropped hints that she hasn’t made any choice at all however so it won’t feel inconsistent with character and plot).
the enemies -> fake dating -> lovers pipeline
no, i didn’t start writing ‘rumours’ (my avery/gray fanfic if you don’t know) based solely on ideas from my own imagination, i have full faith that this is where ‘the final gambit’ is taking avery/gray and why would j.l.b introduce such a plot line you may ask if she’s only going to end up with jamie?? to solve the one problem with the progression of their relationship - grayson’s reservations about hurting jameson (like the selfless boyfriend he is) and thereby pushing avery away at the end of ‘t.i.g’.
what fake dating does is force them into close proximity thereby removing the distance and allowing them to realise and confess their feelings since neither can physically step away from it like they have before.
the hospital bed conversation
we hear what jameson says when avery’s knocked out after the plane incident (is this where he tells her how much he loves her?? not 100% sure haven’t read it in a few months) and we know gray is also in the room at a few points BUT we don’t hear what he has to say because i’m pretty sure ave goes conveniently unconscious while the boys are arguing over her. obviously if it wasn’t important it would’ve been revealed then and there but j.l.b has purposefully made it all mysterious, why?? because he’s probably also confessing his feelings or revealing something about him or jamie that changes the trajectory of the story.
we only see this from jameson’s perspective. obviously he’s going to tell her how he sat by her side the whole time and all that dramatic stuff that will persuade her to choose him — that she’s not a game or a prize, that she doesn’t have to love him (she doesn’t) and on a quick tangent, even as he’s saying this he’s making it into a game?! heads and tails and all that, and the mysterious disc thing he went back for?? everything about him screams that it’s all a competition and a riddle even when he says the opposite, avery even struggles to believe he’s being honest. anyway, back to my initial point, he hasn’t told her about grayson’s side of the story, he obviously wouldn’t, and like i said grayson never gets the opportunity to tell her either. we don’t know how often he was there or what he said outside of the argument she overheard and i wouldn’t be surprised that when we are exposed to his perspective (i think we will be in ‘t.f.g’) we find out he was there to support her just as often as jamie and/or told her something significant too and/or jameson mislead her.
this is a big one. JAMESON IS NOT OVER EMILY. he’s really not, he never has been in the way grayson is and we see this in how bitter he feels over her death and how he constantly mentions her :/, especially in ‘t.i.g’.
whereas gray is very clearly feeling guilty for the way that she passed but THAT IS IT in the way of feeling sorry for her. if any of you have read ‘rebecca’ by daphne du maurier and know the role rebecca plays in her widows future marriage, there is a very similar sentiment that surrounds grayson’s relationship with emily. if you have had the pleasure of reading the extra chapter written in his pov after the plane incident he HATES emily and the way she haunts him. he. does. not. love. her. anymore. even if he does seem obsessed.
jameson hasn’t reached this revelation yet. he doesn’t see her as the monster she was, in some ways he still admires how she played the game and pitted him against his brother (who he still blames btw) and very much has a romantic attachment to her.
what this means going forward you may ask?? eve is already being set up as a double of emily, thrown in to cause drama and potentially be one of the boys’ love interest. therefore if grayson hates emily, then grayson will hate eve. if jameson still loves her, and still loves playing games as we know he does, he will love eve by the same logic, seeing her the same way he did avery — as a game, a riddle, a mystery that is suddenly newer and more interesting. he even tells avery that’s what he loves about the ‘house’ (meaning his family) that just when one mystery’s answered there’s always another, and he will always have a drive to solve it ie. eve comes along as the next puzzle for him to obsess over as it is in his nature.
this leaves ave with grayson, proving that jamie never in fact truly loved her like his brother does and pushes averygray together. we know he’ll choose her over and over again above everybody except jamie, as soon as jameson makes that decision for him, gray will be ready too.
this leads me very quickly to her kidnapping because the end of this book happens so quickly. thea says GRAYSON NOT JAMESON is hurt and needs avery, to essentially lure her into the passage where she’s kidnapped etc. etc. etc. that says something about how other people view her relationship to both boys. if it was obvious she preferred jamie to everybody else, wouldn’t thea use jamie to panic her because it would make her most likely to help him?? but no. she chooses gray. not the most convincing evidence but i’m just saying - everything in lit is a choice to drive either character or plot.
avery doesn’t love or trust jameson
he’s fun, nobody can argue or deny that he is a great friend to have and definitely somebody avery needs in her life BUT she does not trust him one little bit and i don’t blame her for it. there are points in ‘t.h.l’ when he comes through the fireplace that she feels ‘unsafe’ with him and can we please talk about that in contrast to grayson’s promise to protect her?? there’s a very obvious difference that j.l.b establishes subtly that is very, very important and i think it will come to a point where her character realises the longevity of a relationship with somebody you don’t have absolute faith in clearly has it’s limits.
she also doesn’t ever ‘see him on the cliff’ when she turns around she’s alone the first time max poses the question after she’s kissed gray on tv. when she’s in hospital and asks herself the same question both boys are there (because they’re physically stood next to her) and finally when jamie confesses he loves her she doesn’t ever tell him its reciprocated. she doesn’t even tell him he’s the brother she wants to see most when he asks her and ends up kind of dodging the question and half lying to him.
grayson’s emotional intelligence and jamie’s lack of
jameson, libby, alisa etc. all mention at one point how difficult avery is to read, it’s part of what makes her such an interesting character and a good ‘riddle’. but grayson?? he can read her like an open book.
i’ve defo seen someone else talk about this so if you know who please let me know as this is their theory, but as you may know i am from the UK and therefore have been looking at the british cover for ‘t.f.g’ on which they are stood on a chess board. avery’s shadow is that of the queen ie. most powerful (obviously) but grayson is the king ie. maybe not the strongest but most important. not jamie - he’s a bishop.
i used to be a little bit of a chess prodigy when i was a kid so i know it like the back of my hand and the bishop don’t get me wrong is a valuable piece, but, ultimately disposable, being third most pivotal. i read once that it’s used quite often as a ‘hero’ piece to challenge the opposing team which i thought was quite interesting in this context.
both boys in my opinion have a saviour complex that really needs some working on and, if i’m honest, i think gray more so than jamie so i was a little confused with why he’s not the bishop. BUT i realised that it’s in jamesons nature to be outwardly heroic, he wants attention and recognition for his good deeds (not to mention he is challenging) where gray is much more withdrawn and private, not to mention utterly selfless, so that’s my reasoning if you will.
the obvious point to this though is that the king and queen are a partnership that work to protect each other for the sake of winning the game, therefore avery and gray are going to end up together and essentially ‘winning’.
who doesn’t love emotionally distant, blonde boys? and j.l.b’s previous writing
does aaron warner ring any bells?? great character development, a similar enemies -> frenemies -> one of the most loved love interests in ya. potentially grayson is following in his footsteps. then there’s draco malfoy for the dark academia vibes and although i know he never really had a romantic subplot in hp, it doesn’t stop him from being the fan favourite. apparently there are also parallels with gray and the chosen love interest in ‘the naturals’ (j.l.b’s previous series) in which there was a similar love triangle thing going on so it’s something to keep in mind that she’s made a similar decision before.
i know there’s a lot of evidence in jamie’s favour too, primarily the nickname thing, and i might be completely wrong about all of this but i am convinced that grayson will be avery’s final love interest. if you have any more reasons why/theories please tell me them!! i need so much more reassurance <3
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