A whole new world (ToG/ACOTAR crossover)

end of an era

TW: mentions of SA

hey everyone - it's been quite a while huh?

i wanted to start off and say that i genuinely appreciate the support you have all given me for this book from the bottom of my heart. it's so incredibly validating as a writer to see positive feedback on creative pieces because i find that's where i'm the most personal. sharing my ideas and starting this fanfic was kind of scary to me, but i've been overwhelmed with support by all of you amazing people and have grown a lot of confidence as a writer since i first published Chapter 1.

unfortunately, i've decided to put this fic to a rest and allow you guys to move on to even better and even more amazing stories on Wattpad. as i've become friends with and had interactions with more and more incredible book readers, i've come to the realization that SJ Maas and her ACOTAR/TOG series have a lot of problematic elements to them. one of the sole Black characters in the TOG series (nehemia) is killed off by the second book and serves only to further the story of our white protagonist. feyre is sexually assaulted by Rhysand in a court of thorns and roses but this is completely ignored for the rest of the series and dismissed as his "protection" of her. and many characters are given racially ambiguous descriptions without Maas ever stating whether they're a character of colour or not (which takes the aesthetics of people of colour without bothering to do the work to develop well-written characters of colour).

these are just a few of the points i've seen brought up about these series, but even by themselves this should be enough to make us all reevaluate ACOTAR and TOG. i feel uncomfortable continuing to be a part of the fandom and writing fanfiction now that this has come to my attention, and as a person of colour i think it's important that i do this and maybe encourage others to do the same.

this doesn't mean i'm not grateful for being able to meet the incredible people within the fandom and it certainly doesn't mean that everyone who enjoyed SJ Maas novels is a bad person! but we should all be taking a critical eye to the literature we consume, especially when it's targeted to YA audiences who need to grow up with healthy fictional role models and shouldn't be reading content that normalizes issues like these. this has definitely reminded me to revisit some of my childhood/teenage favourites and ask myself these important questions, and i would like to think that i have grown a lot as a reader and am careful with the books i read now.

i hope you can understand why i'm doing this, and while i apologize for leaving you halfway through a plot, this is definitely a path i think is necessary to take. i'll still leave this up as i am proud of the writing by itself and did not have those ideas in mind while creating it, but anyone who reaches the end will be able to see why i've left it and will hopefully take a moment to think. thank you all a million and one times for your endless commenting, voting, and love for me and my story. have a good one:)

- xo