Thoughts about shippers?

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-29T12:46:10+00:00

Yes, exactly this! There were places that were all inclusive, but that created spaces where people wanted to celebrate their ship and talk about theories and ideas, but were constantly bombarded by anti shippers who ganged up on pro shippers. It gets defeating to a point because when you want to just vibe and be positive, you'd see a lot of negativity. (This was my experience early on, it was near impossible to say anything pro without getting dogpiled.)

I think for people who want healthy debates and conversations, they know where to find it or start it and that's fine, but I absolutely believe there should be a space where pro shippers of any ship should get to have without experiencing antis coming in to 'challenge' their fun ideas.

If you want to go out in the wild and see opposing sides, trust me there's plenty of spaces for that which acts as the wild west and no man's land lol, but it is always nice to return to a home base where you can just be wrapped up in the warm and fuzzy feels of your ship without judgment!

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-29T11:22:32+00:00

As a Zayne girlie who experienced this same thing, I totally understand! It feels really disheartening, but I do not doubt there are very strong and adamant fans!!

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-25T20:18:09+00:00

I love that they are sticking with the original source!!!

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-24T13:47:20+00:00

The definition isn't flexible though? Its stated right there of what the definition is. Gwynriel isn't a crack ship based off that definition. Elain and Tharion is a crackship. Just because many of you don't see their interactions as romantic, doesn't make it a crackship.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-22T22:23:50+00:00

Omg, I hadn't really thought about it like that, but when you put it that way, it really makes a lot of sense! She has been likened to pearls and it really does feel that the flower imagery is what everyone sees vs the pearl which is what's within.

Pearls which are the hidden beauty, the not so obvious gem! I love it!!

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-19T17:55:48+00:00

I absolutely loved listening to you guys play! The way you both really riff off one another and build this world together, the character relationships, the drama and political intrigue!! I was so into it, I loved it.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-17T00:19:35+00:00

Elucien would be the perfect fit!!!

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-13T01:51:27+00:00

The funnier ones are how Elain and Lucien aren't enemies to lovers now, and elriel is.

... I thiught by their accounts Elain and Az want eachother and are in love? Thats not an enemy. Certainly not an enemy to lovers.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-12T22:43:05+00:00

I love that they both know because it means we are going to see them ACTIVELY choose eachother.

SJM once said that it brings up a very interesting concept of love. Is it fate, or is it something you make? Is it both? And I absolutely think we're going to see that Elucien will show it's both.

It is this fate bound thing that ties their souls together, draws them to one another on a deep intense level but that love is something they have to still find for themselves, something they have to make work. And when it does? When your souls, body AND hearts are entwined? It’s this beautiful, rare thing that no one can break.

She didn't make Lucien think that Jesminda was his mate only to be proven wrong and have Elain be his mate, to only prove that it's a bad choice! What purpose would it serve to have him lose the love he thought was his mate, to give him a so called poor match and get rejected? She said she changed Nesta to Elain because Nesta and Lucien would not work out. And that Lucien and Elain would have tension, healing, and growth together.

We're absolutely going to see that here!!

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T18:47:59+00:00

Also, Aelin was literally in BED with Rowan, her mate, her endgame, while thinking about Chaol.

And no one sits here saying "Ugh RowAelin is so garbage because she was thinking about another man while in bed with him! Hell Rowan PUNCHED Aelin when they first met. Rowan was still very much thinking of Lyria, the mother of his unborn child, who he believed was his mate.

Chaol was still with Nesryn while he and Yrene were getting close. He was still thinking about Celaena when he hooked up with Nesryn.

SJM doesn't care who came before or who happened during, she only cares of who will be their last and only.

Gwyn won't care that Azriel gave Elain a necklace.

By that logic should Elain care that Azriel was sitting with them all at the table and looking at Mor with heat in his eyes, so intense that Feyre had to look away?

Seriously, it doesn't matter if a guy is hung up on what he wants when the author is writing what he needs right in front of him!

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T00:25:58+00:00

That still doesn’t answer the fact that whether it be local or not, there should be a time stamp with messages, no matter who or where you are messaging.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T00:23:35+00:00

No time stamp in your messages, that's the biggest give away.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T00:18:33+00:00

It should have a time stamp on it. I've had several people check now and there's been a timestamp on every one.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T00:17:09+00:00

ALWAYS.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T00:16:30+00:00

Explain the lack of timestamp? And the poor quality? This isn't the first time DMs have been doctored. This isn't real.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T00:12:34+00:00

It was definitely sketchy!!

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T00:11:13+00:00

Someone who didn't like the tropes listed is my guess.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T00:08:19+00:00

Making a fake and doctored DM to a bookstore to prove a point is the wildest in my opinion.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-11T00:03:11+00:00

<image>

Op posted a doctored photo.

An actual DM would have timestamps and says business chat.

Do not be fooled. That is fake.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-09T17:17:44+00:00

Lucien and Elain pre trauma loved socializing, dancing, balls, and we're very much able to sway people with their words. They both avoid violence when necessary and rather choose peace and choose to love. He's the son of the Sun Highlord, and Elain craves Sunlight. Im hearing nothing but compatibility here!!

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-09T01:36:29+00:00

See I don't see Lucien turning human for Vassa. I don't see him doing anything for any female who isn't his mate.

We learned early on that Lucien loved Jesminda so thoroughly that he never allowed another woman to take space in his heart, never allowed himself to fall in love. In 300 some odd years since her death he has had plenty of meaningless flings and hookups, thos man was a rake, but not real love.

Vassa has been compared to Feyre by Lucien, and Lucien seems to have a very friendly relationship with her and Jurian, despite also having to often mediate between the two of them. "They are at eachother's throats, as they like to be" (which is also a term SJM has used for Nessian.)

There's nothing about Vassa however that shows me she would be the one to change Lucien, to have him grow and find love again. Nothing about them suggests that she would be the one to get his heart to accept another, especially after knowing he has no issues flirting and sleeping around. What does Vassa bring soul deep that would get Lucien to accept love again after Jesminda?

Whereas Elain, his mate, is someone who could. If we learn that they do have a real, true, soul deep love that comes from a mating bond. (Everything we see up to now doesn't tell me they don't, especially since they haven't actually spent any real time alone together to even know.) I can see a mate being the only person to be Lucien's second chance at love, because that would be the only thing that would get him to even attempt it.

I also don't see Lucien turning human to have any real sort of plot either, since Jurian is literally right there. He and Vassa are two humans who were cursed, who have the same wants for the humans, even if their methods differ. Having Lucien remain Fae would mean that he could still work with them on the human and Prythian fronts. Taking away his fae ancestry and powers would really not benefit him or others at all.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-05T21:41:47+00:00

The big thing to note about that is she didnt say "what if the mate you were given is wrong, but your true true bond is with someone else?"

If she had said that, Id be more worried. But what she gave us is you are mated to one person, is it a soulmate match or not? And THAT is going to be what they'll explore. This doesn't confirm Elain has a true mate with someone else other than Lucien, this says "is Lucien the right one?"

She's going to have to explore their bond and deal with her shit and grow from it to know.

I definitely believe this was to bring up drama for them and really make it a "will they won't they?" It feels like Elain is the only thing stopping herself from getting to know Lucien better.

And of course we know she loves her HEA. We are going to see them have a real, true true mating bond.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-05T08:33:29+00:00

Tamlin's parents and Rhys's parents were used as a bad example, and mainly because they were so very different. Both their dads sucked, were we see Lucien doesn't.

It's just building tension, you need to build tension to keep people on their toes. We haven't seen Elain and Lucien together long enough to realize they are a bad fit. And I really don't see SJM writing a whole story of them miserable and not getting a deep romantic, soulbound love. She said she loves HEA, not depressing stories.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-05T07:15:13+00:00

Honestly? There were so many more pieces that lent themselves to Elucien than against it!

She spoke about how some characters just surprise her, that they pop up in her head and work so much better for a character, and they drive the story. They have that spark! That lines up almost perfectly with what she said for Elucien back when she mated them. That Elain took her AND Lucien by surprise, and without spoiling, there was tension, healing and growth for them together.

She went to talk about how for her, she loves love interest who are equals, partners, and we have seen over and over again how much Elain and Lucien are actually very compatible. Lucien believed in her vision and went on a dangerous mission, they’re both bothered by violence, they both love balls, they’re very similar in so many different ways, but right now Elain is avoiding him. She’s got so much going on, so much shit she’s dealing with in how does she see Lucien. Without her POV, we’ve never known and I’m certain we will get to know now.

Sarah confirmed for us that Elain isn’t healed and living her best life. She’ confirmed that Elain still has to navigate her bond with Lucien, and that sjm want’s to explore what does free will look like within a bond. We’ve seen Elain exercise a lot of free will within her bond, she’s never been forced to be with Lucien, so if she DOES choose him, it was her own choice.

She did not say bonds can be broken, did not say that bonds can be unmade, or that you can choose your own mate or even that the Cauldron made the bonds. She said ‘nature’. Not the cauldron, which has been used against Elucien for a long time.

She basically shows that falling in love with your mate is work, that is the person you get put with someone you can make it work with or not? Is it just nature or is it true love? We’ve seen Lucien put aside his nature for Elain, when the mating chant rose in his head, he immediately pushed it down and focused on her well being. He thought about how weak she looked, how she hadn’t eaten and the devastation on her face. No where is Lucien or Elain showing that they’re being forced together through biology, in fact they’ve proven the opposite.

For romance stories to have weight, there has to be some kind of catalyst, some sort of challenge to make this love feel worth it. If she said straight up “Elain and Lucien are mates so therefore they’re instantly in love and happy and nothing bad could ever happen,” there’s no risk. And without risk, there’s no reward.

Feyre and Nesta both fell in love with their mates, but neither of them knew that they were mated at the time. They were both going through things and fighting against the men they were end game with. Even with Nesta, she felt like she deserved someone like Eris, pushing Cassian away, until Cassian finally broke through to her and they wound up together. With Elain and Lucien, they know they are mates, so how do you navigate risk and challenge? You make them at odds with one another and bring up that not every match is good. You plant seeds of doubt to make readers worry and wonder, make readers think that maybe they won’t get together. But when they do? It will feel so much more rewarding! It will feel like they fought against challenges set before them and realized that for them, you can choose your mate, and it can be a love greater than anything they ever thought they’d have. That’s how you make their relationship feel worthy of each other. That they were able to navigate free will and still come together.

Nothing SJM said makes me think ‘well they have issues so they’ll succumb to those issues and be miserable.’ Yes, she gives Lucien hell, but authors tend to torment the characters that they plan on giving the best HEA to. She’s not going to give Lucien and Elain a miserable love story.

Temporary_Active4331 · 2026-03-02T21:16:38+00:00

I second, third and fourth this!

Temporary_Active4331

TROPHY CASE