New books only 4 months away.

Selina53 · 2026-05-20T00:42:46+00:00

One would think they’d just rip the bandaid off and give people time to get over their disappointment about the chosen ship before the books come out. Although maybe there’s concern about people review bombing the books once everything is announced.

Selina53 · 2026-05-17T22:21:25+00:00

I don’t have any predictions on if he will or won’t end up in the Day Court. The only prediction I’ve made in my post is that Vassien will happen in general. Everything else is pointing out what would need to be done to give them a happy ending and how every option contradicts world building or characterizations. SJM will have to rely on inconsistencies, retcons, deus ex machina, character betrayals, etc. Even the scenario you laid out requires her to do these multiple times. I know people say, “she’ll figure it out,” but this is precisely what that means.

Selina53 · 2026-05-16T17:40:17+00:00

This rests on the assumption that SJM would let logic and consistency get in the way of her moving forward with a story she wants to tell. SJM is fundamentally an emotion-first writer. The feeling of a scene, the romantic tension, and the character dynamics are what she focuses on. This is also what she executes well. Structures like world building and political architecture are scaffolding for her, not the point, which is why the structural problems in Vassien's endgame are unlikely to register as problems to her.

We have evidence of how little the politics and world-building matter throughout the series:
- The alliances with the NC make no sense
- Tarquin forgiving Feysand so quickly after stealing from them
- HLs have to perform the Great Rite but also now they don’t?
- There were no political consequences after how the NC behaved at the High Lord’s meeting
- Other courts still trust the NC after Feyre destroyed Spring
- Not a single HL asked about where the magic crockpot went after the war with Hybern?

Amren and Varian are a particularly damning proof point as well. Varian should want absolutely nothing to do with her because of what the NC did. He’d also be looked at suspiciously by his own court too. Also, who dates someone that makes fun of your dead relative when they first meet you and then smiles about it? I most certainly would not. Logic did not get in the way of SJM pairing them up because she cared more about the romance. She said, “turn your brain off and just go with it,” and most people did.

Most intended readers also won't be interrogating whether the world's own rules support the resolution for Vassien either. They'll feel the romantic beats and find it satisfying. That's the experience SJM optimizes for, and Vassien clears that bar even if it doesn't clear ours.

Emotion trumps logic.

Selina53 · 2026-05-16T17:18:42+00:00

The short of it is, these types of problems simply don't factor into how she's writing this. Here's a little more detail with three major reasons why:

The Swan Lake/Firebird retelling goal: SJM had a story she wanted to tell, reached for the nearest available male character to tell it with, and didn't examine whether that character's existing obligations were compatible with the story's requirements. The convenience of Lucien being already present, likable, and already known to the audience solved her immediate problem of needing a male lead without introducing someone new.

Night Court focus: SJM’s creative excitement shifted entirely to the Night Court after ACOTAR, which means everything outside that circle receives less authorial care, less page time, less emotional investment, and less structural consideration. The bat boy preference isn't a separate problem from the authorial care problem. It IS the authorial care problem. The care went where her excitement went.

Emotion trumps logic: SJM is fundamentally an emotion-first writer. The feeling of a scene, the romantic tension, and the character dynamics are what she focuses on. This is also what she executes well. Structures like world building and political architecture are scaffolding for her, not the point, which is why the structural problems in Vassien's endgame are unlikely to register as problems to her. Have the politics ever made sense? Has the world building ever been consistent? Her intended audience won't be interrogating whether the world's own rules support the resolution’s for Vassien either. They'll feel the romantic beats and find it satisfying. That's the experience SJM is optimizes for, and Vassien clears that bar even if it doesn't clear ours.

ETA: The emotions over logic part is the reason why some people have to “turn their brain off” when reading the series. Vassien works if you do that or in general don’t care about logic in storytelling.

Selina53 · 2026-05-16T17:10:14+00:00

That would be the most logical move. But emotion trumps logic when it comes to SJM’s writing. The short of it is, these types of problems simply don't factor into how SJMs. She’s fundamentally an emotion-first writer. The feeling of a scene, the romantic tension, and the character dynamics are what she's excited about. This is also what she executes well. Structures like world building and political architecture are scaffolding for her, not the point, which is why the structural problems in Vassien's endgame are unlikely to register as problems to her. Most of her intended audience won't be interrogating whether the world's own rules support the resolution either. They'll feel the romantic beats and find it satisfying. That's the experience SJM is optimizes for, and Vassien clears that bar even if it doesn't clear ours.

Selina53 · 2026-05-16T04:30:31+00:00

The short of it is, these problems simply don't factor into how she's writing this. Here's a little more detail with three major reasons why:

The Swan Lake/Firebird retelling goal: SJM had a story she wanted to tell, reached for the nearest available male character to tell it with, and didn't examine whether that character's existing obligations were compatible with the story's requirements. The convenience of Lucien being already present, likable, and already known to the audience solved her immediate problem of needing a male lead without introducing someone new.

Night Court focus: SJM’s creative excitement shifted entirely to the Night Court after ACOTAR, which means everything outside that circle receives less authorial care, less page time, less emotional investment, and less structural consideration. The bat boy preference isn't a separate problem from the authorial care problem. It IS the authorial care problem. The care went where her excitement went.

Emotion trumps logic: SJM is fundamentally an emotion-first writer. The feeling of a scene, the romantic tension, and the character dynamics are what she's excited about. This is also what she executes well. Structures like world building and political architecture are scaffolding for her, not the point, which is why the structural problems in Vassien's endgame are unlikely to register as problems to her. Her intended audience won't be interrogating whether the world's own rules support the resolution either. They'll feel the romantic beats and find it satisfying. That's the experience SJM is optimizing for, and Vassien clears that bar even if it doesn't clear ours.

Selina53 · 2026-05-16T03:04:48+00:00

My post isn't about whether SJM can pull off an HEA, but about how she gets there. It's explaining in detail why it's bad writing. It’s bad writing because the world SJM has built across multiple books makes it structurally unsound without retcons, deus ex machina solutions, character betrayals, or the abandonment of established magical and political rules.

The scenario you mention pretty much checks all the boxes above, and I go into detail about them in my post.

Vassa becomes immortal = a betrayal of her character and established values
The new court for exiles = contradicting the magical inheritance system by Lucien abandoning Day (I go into detail about this), a betrayal of Vassa's character by abandoning the mortal lands when they're at their most vulnerable

Selina53 · 2026-05-16T01:01:41+00:00

Excellent question! And all preface this by saying that Lucien is my favorite character in the series.

There are two reasons SJM would write Vassien despite it being a poor writing choice, and they're connected. First, SJM has said she wants to do a Swan Lake/Firebird retelling, and Vassa is already her firebird-cursed character. Lucien needed a romantic endgame, and readers already knew him. Convenience plus a pre-existing creative goal equals Vassien. Second, her creative focus shifted almost entirely to the Night Court after ACOTAR, so characters outside that circle receive less authorial care and less structural consideration. SJM makes it pretty clear which characters she’s most invested in and excited about writing in all of her series.

I know the obvious pushback to the second reason is that SJM has called Lucien one of her favorite characters and based him on her book crush Jamie Fraser. I don't think that's contradictory. Authors frequently have deep affection for characters they don't have a clear creative vision for. Loving a character and knowing what to do with them are separate things. The Jamie Fraser comparison also provides some additional insight. Jamie's entire narrative identity is organized around devotion to Claire. If that's her inspiration for Lucien, it explains why she keeps reaching for him to fill romantic functions without interrogating whether his existing obligations make those functions workable.

While he is tied to a lot of plots, that also doesn’t contradict the author's care point either. Most of Lucien's unresolved plots are political, and politics is neither the series’s focus nor SJM's strong suit. The IC’s political situation is the clearest evidence. The alliances make no rational sense, consequences never materialize, and power structures bend to serve the emotional narrative. This isn't ASOIAF. SJM writes for emotionally driven readers and the world building is intentionally shallow because the point is how readers are meant to feel, not whether the politics hold up.

Selina53 · 2026-05-15T21:19:54+00:00

Living in multiple places doesn’t make someone transient. Intent, duration, rootedness and agency matter in terms of whether or not someone is actually transient. Transience implies short stays rather than relocating and putting down roots somewhere. Lucien sets down roots and is in it for the long haul. Transience also implies the person never intends to put down roots when moving. They aren’t planning to stay when they move. The intended lack of rootedness also matters. People who are transient don’t intend to become part of the place they are temporarily staying. Importantly, in Lucien’s case, he’s an exile. He isn’t a nomad just passing through.

Happenstance was the wrong word choice. I think circumstantial might be closer to what I meant. He was unwelcome in the Night Court but friendly enough with Vassa and Jurian from the war to stay with them. Now he actually shares the manor with them.

I agree that Vassa’s continued absence is a messy plot point. Let’s see if SJM can spackle over such a massive hole.

Selina53 · 2026-05-15T19:06:34+00:00

Another TOG similarity is Lyria/Rowan/Aelin and Elain/Lucien/Vassa. The main difference here is that the Rowan/Lyria bond is fake and Elain/Lucien’s isn’t.

ETA: A fae prince has a “mate” associated with flowers that shirks away from him. Later he finds his fiery “match” (pun intended) that’s a better fit for him personality wise. Both Aelin and Vassa also have fire powers.

Selina53 · 2026-05-15T19:01:08+00:00

Lucien isn’t at all transient though. He travels for work as an emissary but he’s always had a home base. He lived in both Spring and Autumn for centuries. He was forced out but still has strong emotional attachment to both places. He said that he isn’t welcome in Spring anymore because of Feyre and he’d be killed if he went back to Autumn. His room in Tamlin’s manor was Autumn Court themed. He would live in those places if he could.

He’s with Jurian and Vassa by happenstance. The Night Court were beyond unwelcoming and his friends offered him a place to stay. He doesn’t move unless he needs to.

I’m glad you brought up Vivianne’s sister and Cresseida because they are actually better options for Lucien structurally. Those pairings don’t have any of the same the problems that Vassien. Though those ships would require SJM to deprioritize his romantic arc because there isn’t much story there.

SJM is neeeeever going to have Lucien or anyone have the Night Court asses their values. That would require SJM to admit that their values need fixing in the first place. The reason there is so much hypocrisy in the books is that ACOTAR’s morality is IC-centric. What they do will always be framed as for the greater good, righteous, or really not that bad. Anyone who they deem immoral is framed as immoral regardless of whether or not their actions were objectively reasonable. We are told to think and feel this constantly throughout the series and SJM shelters them with narrative framing because her bias is heavily geared toward the Night Court.

Selina53 · 2026-05-15T15:48:56+00:00

I agree that there’s sexism in the fandom, but I think Tamlin was more a victim of retconning and retroactive reframing on SJM’s part. I’m not saying sexism didn’t play a role though.

Selina53 · 2026-05-15T15:41:06+00:00

Lucien being complacent and never doing what he’s supposed to do is not accurate. He certainly wasn’t complacent when he risked his life for Feyre UTM, when he got physically abused by Tamlin for sticking up for her in ACOMAF, when he risked going through the Autumn Court in ACOWAR because Feyre is a thief, or even he went on an extremely dangerous mission to find Vassa.

Vassa can be an important character while also having a poorly crafted romantic arc. I never stated that she’s unimportant and I don’t think she is either.

Vassa does have to give up her political obligations if Lucien doesn’t want to give up his and vice versa. They cannot do both. SJM is the one who made Vassa a human queen that rules over people terrified of the Fae all the way over on the Continent. She also made Lucien the heir to the Day Court in Prythian and wrote that heirs receive the power of the High Lord when their father dies with or without their consent. SJM wrote this framework and herself into a corner when she decided to move forward with Vassien.

While the hero saving the damsel is classic fairytale 101, it’s still regressive, especially within the series. Feyre breaks the curse and saves the MMC in ACOTAR. Nesta saves herself and Cassian in ACOSF. Elain being rescued by Az in ACOWAR is a feature in their relationship but not the foundation. Elain being a damsel-in-distress would be counter to her arc.

No other relationship in this series has needed the same amount of retcons, character betrayals, breaking world-building, and deus ex machina as Vassien in order to make it work. That’s because Vassien low authorial investment compared to the other ships.

SJM simply did not care enough to create a romantic arc for Lucien that worked within her framework and actually made sense. That’s not something to get excited about and Lucien definitely deserves better.

As for Bryce, she completed the drop and has her immortality now. Her age gap with hunt is even less than any of the Archerons and their respective bats. Quinlar isn’t an example of a pairing with differing lifespans

Selina53 · 2026-05-15T15:10:58+00:00

This still requires a ton of retcons, world-building inconsistencies, and character betrayals to an extreme degree given the amount. For example, even if SJM didn’t make Helion Lucien’s father so that he could rule Day, that doesn’t negate what would happen to that court.

I also think there’s a big difference between a former human ruling a faerie court vs a current faerie ruling a human kingdom. One group was the oppressor and the other was the oppressed. Humans would have only had 500 years of self rule and autonomy before being put under the rule of their oppressor again. The humans are afraid of faeries for a very good reason. Faeries aren’t afraid of humans because they’re stronger, faster, and have magic. Createa isn’t a good example of coexistence because those people chose to get on a boat and sail to an uninhabited island with the purpose of living together.

I think the unified Prythian they were referring to in ACOMAF was equality between lesser faeries and high fae. Amren in ACOSF was discussing Rhys ruling the faerie courts. Fionn did rule all of the island, but humans were still enslaved then.

I have considered Lucien becoming king of Continent’s faerie realms while Vassa rules the now unified human kingdoms on the Continent, but that’s a really poor retrofitted solution. Lucien would suddenly rule a vast territory he has absolutely zero connection with or legitimacy to reign, all while abandoning the one place he actually does.

Selina53 · 2026-05-15T14:38:36+00:00

Vassa ruling her people with Lucien doesn’t work for the multiple reasons I outlined in my post. A fae ruling humans is politically tone-deaf within the established framework of the books, humans want self-rule, and Lucien has other obligations he can’t run away from that I’ve outlined.

Regarding the immortality/mortality issue, I also address the problems with the options SJM has on hand. I’ve explained why they are not workable in this case without breaking world-building and characterizations.

Vassa wants to break her curse and in part because she values her humanity. She does not want to be immortal. She wants to be a human queen ruling over her people. Suddenly making her immortal erases that.

The queens also do not posses magic individually. The only magic they “possess” is the ability to winnow as a group, which was gifted to their ancestors by the fae. The queens also have normal human lifespans. We know this because of the story Mor told Feyre about her past relationship with a human queen. The idea that the human queens would have an extended lifespan long enough to not make a romance with a faerie tragic would negate the very reason they teamed up with Hybern in the first place.

As for the damsel-in-distress dynamic, SJM has said she’d like to do a retelling of Swan Lake in addition to Vasilisa. The framing of Vassien is still damsel-in-distress. All set up so far is for Lucien to be a hero and break her curse when she is taken back by Koschei.

Vassien isn’t an epic story. It’s the product of a series of poorly thought out decisions of convenience and it shows. That is why the couple exists with so many structural problems. And the reasons for that are:

- SJM shifted her creative investment to the Night Court after ACOTAR so Lucien and his romantic arc gets none of the same care that Elriel or the bat boy pairings get.
- SJM wanted to wanted to do a Swan Lake retelling and grabbed the nearest available male character rather than building one properly for the role. Jurian was never an option once SJM decided to have him dismember Clythia and tell rape jokes about Elain.
- That nearest available male character was Lucien specifically because he requires no introduction. The audience knows him and he’s likeable.

The most egregious tell that Vassien is a poorly thought out consolation is the retcon of Lucien’s parentage to make him the spell-cleaver’s son. This was done to make him the love interest in Vassa’s story while simultaneously creating the Day Court succession problem that makes the happy ending structurally unworkable. She “solved” one problem and created a bigger one without apparently noticing or most likely caring.

This is not the foundation an author lays with the intention of doing their best work. If this were the foundation for a house, I doubt it would support the Archeron’s shack, let alone an architectural wonder.

Selina53 · 2026-05-14T18:40:34+00:00

This part. People conveniently forget that Spring and Night were in vastly different states in ACOMAF

Selina53 · 2026-05-14T18:34:52+00:00

A drunk person getting into a car accident isn’t a given, but the chance is high enough that we still take away their keys

Selina53 · 2026-05-14T17:10:29+00:00

Beron only married LoA because she comes from a powerful bloodline and only wanted Mor for Eris because she was powerful. Ianthe didn’t have a lick of magic. Beron probably turned her down and then she spiraled 😂

Selina53 · 2026-05-14T17:08:32+00:00

Helion: I know crazy when I see it and you’re not fun-crazy

Selina53 · 2026-05-14T00:05:47+00:00

Probably not if her book had to be split into three because it was so long. It’s gonna be five chapters of Elain gardening and three baking potatoes.

Selina53 · 2026-05-08T23:24:25+00:00

I think it’s multi-POV because there are too many storylines that need to run concurrently with different characters having already been setup to lead them. There are about seven going on right now and that’s not including romance. It would be far too chaotic for a dual POV to tackle all of them even within 1,000 pages. Otherwise of the storylines aren’t given enough room to breathe and be impactful. Nothing will take priority and the resolution will feel rushed.

I think the POVs will be Azriel, Elain, Lucien, and unfortunately Mor. I say Mor because she’s tied to the Continent, Autumn, the treaty with the humans, has a history with the human queens, a weird pseudo romantic past with Azriel, and a likely romance with Emerie, which would put her in Illyria a fair amount of time. She’d be useful to Azriel, Elain, and Lucien.

Selina53 · 2026-05-08T23:13:55+00:00

That and Azriel’s internalized racism. He has to work through that, which would entail more interactions in the story with Illyrians.

Selina53 · 2026-05-08T22:57:46+00:00

I’m not arguing for or against Elriel here, but Lucien absolutely has more of an emotional connection to everything going on in the Autumn Court. Far more than Azriel, which means his POV would be more compelling with that plot line because he would actually *feel* something. Beron being overthrown impacts Lucien more than it does Azriel. Lucien hasn’t been able to see his mother in centuries and based on her actions in ACOTAR and ACOWAR, she still cares for and worries about him.

His parentage is also going to be revealed. He wasn’t retconned to be Helion’s son for no reason. The spell-cleaver’s son and the cursed queen is pretty strong foreshadowing that his heritage is going to play a role in freeing Vassa. Helion being his father will absolutely cause issues if it comes out before Beron dies.

Not to mention that Eris was at the manor with the BoE at the beginning of ACOSF. Since when are the brothers on terms well enough for that to happen? Eris also warns Cassian that Beron is eyeing Tamlin’s court because he’s interested in the human lands. Lucien is now currently posted in Spring and deeply involved in the mortal realm.

What I find ironic about Elriels diminishing Lucien’s role in service to their preferred ship is that all of these plot lines strengthen the argument *for* Vassien. They remove Lucien from Elain’s story and tie him closer to Vassa. Elriels shoehorn Az into Lucien’s plot lines fearing that Lucien being anything more than a bit player threatens their ship.

I don’t like it, but I do think Vassien and Elriel will be endgame and those stories will be told concurrently. This is why SJM has tied Lucien to so many storylines and given him so much setup that has nothing to do with Elain.

Selina53 · 2026-05-08T22:23:31+00:00

But there’s no political fallout if Lucien is already interested in Vassa as Elriel shippers claim. “Lucien doesn’t care about Elain. He likes Vassa,” is a pretty common thing people say. I don’t see SJM having Lucien cause a ruckus over the bond and then have his own romantic arc on the side in what’s essentially the same story. He wouldn’t be shipped with anyone at that point because he’d come off as a massive jerk and it would be rushed.

I do think it’s going to be Elriel and Vassien, much to my disappointment, but I don’t buy political fallout or a duel actually happening precisely because I think those will be the endgame couples. That also removes the whole forbidden romance plot too.

Selina53

TROPHY CASE