A lot of anti Gwynriel arguments are hypocritical
First of all it’s fine if you don’t ship Gwynriel. This post isn’t meant to necessarily change your mind, just to show some hypocrisy in anti Gwynriel arguments.
- “If Gwyn and Azriel end up together she’ll be his third choice!”.
If you feel like this, fine, but then why do you ship other couples? Like Vassien? Vassa would be Lucien’s third choice too. First Jasminda, then Elain and then suddenly Vassa? Why is it only an issue when it’s Gwynriel? Most SJM endgame couples aren’t together from the start and explore other options. That doesn’t mean you’re “second choice”. Plus, Elain would be Azriels second choice after Mor. Or Azriel would be Elains second choice after Grayson.
- “Azriel lusts after Elain even after he met Gwyn. If they were mates or endgame, he wouldn’t want another woman”
Then why ship Elriel? Because in acofas, after Azriel knew Elain for a long time, he still looked at Mor with so much heat Feyre had to look away. He was sexually attracted to Mor while knowing Elain. Does that mean they can’t be endgame too? Tog spoiler: >!and Lorcan was annoyed at Elide for cockblocking him. He was sexually attracted to another woman while knowing Elide!< and they still ended up together too. Same again for Vassien. Why is this only a dealbreaker for Gwynriel but not these other couples?
- “Gwyn hasn’t shown romantic interest in Azriel so we shouldn’t ship them”
Then why ship Vassien? Neither Lucien or Vassa has shown anything but friendship and fondly for the other. Or why ship Bryceriel then? Bryce hasn’t shown romantic interest in Azriel either. Just because someone hasn’t shown romantic interest yet, doesn’t mean the foreshadowing isn’t there. That’s literally what foreshadowing it for.