#Lucien watching this like

[thelavendersquid]

Weak Spots

Tickletober Day 4

Essek denies having any weak spots. It doesn't take long to determine that is a lie.

Fandom: Critical Role (The Mighty Nein)

Words: 1.5K

AO3 Link

“So,” Fjord begins, once the little group is settled into the comforts of the dome somewhere deep inside Aeor. Essek is left pondering their comfort in such tight quarters. It’s stressing him out.

Fjord goes on. “We’re probably going to be fighting Lucien in the next day or two and I think we need to get prepared. I know our plans usually go to shit at the last minute but we should at least try. Let’s start with what we’ve got - strengths, weaknesses, put it all out there. I don’t want him to find anything he can use against us that we aren’t prepared for.”

Essek starts to zone out, tuning out the rest of this conversation. They’ll have to forgive him - he really doesn’t need to listen to a list of weaknesses and potential solutions. He’s already accepted his fate. He leans back against one side of the dome, staring off into space and letting his mind drift to the dunamis the group discovered earlier, running through what it could possibly mean.

He’s snapped back to the present when the conversation suddenly shifts to him. “Essek? What about you?”

Essek blinks quickly and pushes himself up a bit straighter, turning to look at the others. “I'm sorry, what was that?”

“I was just asking if you have any strengths, weaknesses, anything we could use against Lucien or he could exploit against us?” Fjord raises an eyebrow at him.

Essek shakes his head. “No particular strengths you haven’t already seen, I’m afraid.”

“What about weaknesses?”

Essek pulls his cloak around himself like a blanket and shakes his head again. “Only that I am like Caleb, a bit - ah, what did you call it? ‘Squishy’.”

“Wizards,” Fjord agrees with a wry nod. He turns back to the others. Essek leans back against the dome wall again, relieved that the conversation seems to have moved on from him.

Beau pipes up from a few feet away across the dome. “Any specific squishy weak spots? Caleb has several.” She shoots both Essek and Caleb a smirk.

Essek blinks in surprise but shakes his head. “Not in particular.”

It’s at this moment that Essek feels something against his sock. He flinches away sharply with a muffled yelp - and looks down expecting to find an insect crawling on him. Instead he finds Veth, crouched and grinning up at him - and holding one of her feathers mere inches away from his foot.

The energy in the dome shifts in a split second. Essek can feel it and is not comforted by doing so. He doesn’t have to look up to be acutely aware that everyone is grinning at him. The sudden sense of mischief is palatable, and Essek can’t imagine how he’s going to get out of this one.

“What was that, Essek?” Veth asks. She’s still grinning up at him with a downright evil look.

“Nothing,” Essek says quickly. He starts pulling his foot away, going to tuck them both underneath his robe. “I-“

He’s cut off as Veth, with lightning-quick reflexes, grabs his foot before he can successfully hide it and flutters the feather over it again. Essek yelps again - louder this time, causing a flush to leap to his cheeks - and his ears flick as a spasm runs up his leg and throughout his whole body.

Jester squeals and claps her hands in delight. She is suddenly very close, Essek realizes - it is not a comforting realization.

“Es-sek! Are you ticklish?!”

Essek opens his mouth to respond. He doesn’t get a chance before Jester grabs his other foot (how did that happen, he thought he’d pulled that one underneath his cloak already) and spiders her claws against the heel. And Essek yelps his loudest yet and slaps a hand over his mouth to stifle any more noise - as well as the grin that’s forcing its way onto his face. He leans back against the side of the dome, as far away as he can get, squeezing his eyes shut.

Jester laughs at him and it’s almost enough to make him break and let out the giggles that are threatening to spill over. Instead he squeezes his eyes shut even tighter and shakes his head frantically.

Jester giggles at that. “I think you are!” She sets to work scratching against his heel again.

Before he can even begin to adjust to that, Essek feels a second set of fingers grab his other foot - Veth, who has given up on the feather it seems. “You know what this looks like to me?” Veth asks, grinning brightly and holding up his foot. “A weak spot.” She punctuates this with a sudden scribbling across the sole of his foot.

And Essek can’t hold back - he bursts into giggles, muffled against the palm of his hand. His ears are twitching frantically and he shakes his head side to side, kicking his feet in a desperate attempt to break free.

He hears the others start laughing too. His face flushes white-hot.

There’s shuffling and then another set of hands grabs his foot. Beauregard’s voice breaks through Essek’s giggles. “Here, I’ll hold his foot so he can’t get away.” And then, sure enough, he can’t move his foot even an inch - and Jester, with a delighted giggle, sets to work scribbling and scratching and working her way up towards his toes.

Essek’s brain short-circuits. His hand flies away from his face as his body jackknives and he attempts to frantically bat Jester’s hands away. To no avail - and he dissolves into laughter. “NOHOHOHOHO NOHAHAHAHA NOT THERE!” He falls back against the dome again, laughing.

Essek doesn’t notice the others moving in closer, but he does notice when his other foot suddenly becomes just as immobile as the first. His eyes blink open just long enough to see Yasha, smiling at him as she holds fast to his foot, while Veth pokes one finger under his toes and scribbles others over the top of his foot - and why does that tickle so much?! Essek yelps again and attempts to yank his feet free - but Beau and Yasha hold firm and he gets nowhere. Instead he collapses back against the wall, turning to bury his face in his arm and resigning himself to laughter.

Veth’s grin is clear in her voice. “Wow, Essek, you’d better hope Lucien doesn’t find out about this! We would be screwed!” Essek could never hope to respond, laughing himself silly as he is.

There’s a sudden feeling against one of Essek’s ears - which have been twitching frantically as he laughs - and Essek spasms so hard he almost pulls out of Beau and Yasha’s hold. Almost - they quickly grab him again and hold on tighter. Caleb, who is now sitting right next to Essek’s head (Essek realizes he’s slid almost all the way to the floor - that’s unfortunate), runs another finger over the elf’s ear, wiggling it ever-so-gently. Essek cackles.

Caleb laughs and tries it again, and Essek feels as if he’s going to shiver out of his own skin. He shudders, twisting frantically away from Caleb’s evil, evil fingers and slapping at the ground. He's laughing harder than he ever thought possible.

Fjord laughs from somewhere to Essek’s left. “Two weak spots? Man, Thelyss, how do you function?”

“SHHUHUHUHUT UHUHUHUHHUHUP!” Essek’s retort carries no malice, he can barely get the words out through his laughter. Fjord laughs along with him.

There’s another shuffling sound and a warm, fuzzy hand flutters against Essek’s other ear. Light above, they’re going to actually kill him. Caduceus’ slightly fuzzy fingers are even more ticklish, if that were possibly. Essek’s laughter kicks up another octave. He spasms again, leaning forward and hands suddenly flailing desperately in attempt to push someone, any of them away - but he can’t coordinate himself enough to even began to manage that. He collapses back into laughter and falls over onto Caleb, burying his face in his shoulder as he shakes apart with laughter.

Caleb smiles and brings a hand up to wrap around Essek’s shoulders and pull him closer. This means, mercifully, that Caleb’s hand is no longer scratching against his ear. Less mercifully, Caleb brings his other hand into play - slipping it underneath Essek’s cloak to wiggle against his ribs. Essek yelps again and slaps a hand against his back involuntarily. He feels more than hears Caleb’s chuckles along with him.

Fjord slides in next to Caleb and joins in, hands sliding underneath Essek’s coat and tickling. Essek feels sure his face is going to split open with how wide he’s beaming and his whole body is sure to explode into a million pieces from laughter.

Nevertheless, it’s nice. He had forgotten what this felt like, the warm feeling of laughing and being held close and tickled apart. Never in a million years would he have thought he’d find himself enjoying it with friends - but here he is. Perhaps he shouldn’t be too surprised, life has certainly handed him stranger surprises in the last few months.

Jester’s fingers are under his toes again. Caduceus is scribbling behind his ear in a way that makes him want to scream. Veth, Fjord and Caleb are methodically taking him apart. Beau and Yasha are joining in the fun, fingers spidering over his feet and legs, squeezing at his knees. They’re all laughing at him. And all Essek can do is laugh and laugh and laugh.

Perhaps having weak spots isn't so bad.

[yaralulu]

I fucking love how everytime lucien is asked about the spring court he says nothing about tamlin and how he’s doing.He gives the most vague polite answers and nothing more.Mostly because he knows “how’s the spring court” is just code for “how’s tamlin and has he died yet” and he will not give anyone the satisfaction of knowing anything or having them gloat over his decline.The basic decency to not talk about his mental health struggles and air out his dirty laundry shows not just what kind of a person lucien is but how he’s still protective of tamlin despite everything .It’s such a small gesture but I really appreciate lucien giving tamlin the respect of not revealing anything about his current state.

[c-kiddo]

was worried parts of cr2 would not hold up on rewatch (especially seeing people hate the aeor arc so much) but ngl so far its either been good and fun as hell (travellercon, pirate arc) or just straight up banger after banger. like the xhorhas to angel of irons through to refjorged arc and then the cathedral.................. unrelenting slay

[seleneprince]

When the Vanserra-Archeron twins find out that Nyx is courting their beloved friend, Zinnia (Tamlin's daughter), they're not amused at all. Specially Sylvie.

She doesn't care about her cousin, has a borderline hostile dynamic with him, but for the most part he's just "that guy from Night Court she happens to share blood with". Neth is on better terms with him and she doesn't mind spending time with him, but they're not close enough to see him as family. She considers him more a long-distance friend.

Meanwhile, they adore Zinnia. They grew up with her. She's their godfather's daughter, their beloved Uncle Tamlin. They spent their childhoods jumping from Spring to Autumn frecuently just to see each other. They love like her a sister. Their families are on the same circle. In their eyes, Zinnia has always been this sweet girl they must protect and who only deserves the best.

Which it's not Nyx Archeron. Or any other brute from the Night Court. They're sure of it.

It's not just them. Literally, no one in their circle approves of this possible union, except Elain (because she knows things). Both Eris and Nesta are amused by the whole mess but he doesn't think they fit together and she doesn't want her to be at the Night Court . Lucien doesn't like it at all and neither do his and Elain's kids. And let's not get started on poor Tamlin, having to see his exes' spawn court his precious daughter so insistently.

Back at the Night Court, it's more or less the same situation. Rhysand is the only person that openly supports his son on this and even gives him advice on how to woo the girl (which is awful advice because he only tells him to do the same things he did with feyre, ignoring that not everyone enjoys those as much as she did). Feyre doesn't understand why he's so enthusiastic about becoming family with Tamlin. The rest of the IC know where Rhysand is coming from and don't dare tell Feyre the truth...

[arson-09]

i would do very egregious things to witness acotar trio (Feyre, Tamlin, Lucien) play scary games together. Specifically Lethal Company or Phasmophobia. I think it would be hilarious

[separatist-apologist]

literally make your own week if you care that much, all you eluciens have turned what is supposed to be a week to celebrate elain into this shitshow of drama surrounding tamlin and beron, two characters that have nothing to do with her

I literally wrote a whole fucking post urging eluciens to participate in the event and said I had a good experience with it. I gave your event runners permission to use my art piece GLADLY because I enjoy Elain week, you are literally barking up the WRONG tree.

[unironicallytes]

@orfeoarte and I accidentally made modern!LuZath

so naturally zath is a tumblr bitch and found the poll

[olenvasynyt]

The discussion of choice with Elucien & comparing Elain's choice to Outlander

Something that has become a popular topic recently is this idea of choice when discussing Elucien and their mating bond: that Elain should be allowed the option of rejecting the mating bond with Lucien.  And we can skip past this morality test people (E/riels) often like to make...let's just talk about it from a fictional standpoint and how this idea of choice is a popular trope in fantasy media. Because guess what! Elain is fictional. Lucien is fictional. Their bond is fictional.

This idea of choice has been in the books since Lucien first whispered that Elain is his mate at the Cauldron. Lucien whispering that she is his mate during the most traumatic moment of her life was a rash decision on his part. He said it out of shock, because he thought Jesminda was his mate and died before the bond could snap.  But the interesting thing about that (and something that E/riels either deny or don't like bringing up) is that he has given her the option of choice since that moment and beyond.  In fact, I think she has more room for choice than her sisters did, because unlike them, she has known the truth from the very beginning.  Unlike Feyre, because Rhys knew she was his mate but didn’t tell her. And that was for a lot of reasons but it did serve himself, he didn’t her to push him away because of that knowledge before she could get to know him.  She and Nesta were forced to be in the same room as their mates. 

Lucien has been giving Elain space to choose.  He is cautious around her, because he sees that she is uncomfortable, that he fucked up, that she might resent him for allying with Hybern even though it wasn’t his fault and he did things to counteract that.

I totally think that Lucien will give Elain the room to reject the mating bond, maybe even suggest it. And this brings me to something that happens in Outlander because yes, I have to make more comparisons between Elucien and Outlander because if you didn’t know, SJM is obsessed with outlander and used Jamie as inspiration for Lucien.

This is spoilers for S1 E11:

Claire finally tells Jamie that she is from the future, that she accidentally traveled through the stones to the current timeline of the 1700s.

This was a huge pivitoal moment, it was a secret Claire had been keeping for a while and Jamie finally understood who she is, why she acts the way she acts, and that she has been wanting to get back to her old life.  

And he takes her back to the stones.

Quote from the show:

"It's what you wanted.  Aye?  What you've always wanted...to go home." "It's your own time on the other side of that stone.  You've a home there, a place, the things you're used to.  And Frank.  There's nothing for you on this side.  Nothing save violence and danger."

He tells her that it would be good for her to go back.  It’s her own time, it’s the things she’s used to.  "There’s nothing for you on this side.  Nothing save violence and danger."

He says goodbye to her and expects her to go through the stones because it is what he believes she wants.  

He leaves her at the stones and goes down in the valley to make a fire for the night and is ready to leave in the morning, and she comes and chooses him.

She says “take me home to Lallybroch”.

I compare Jamie and Claire to Lucien and Elain quite often: SJM says that Lucien is inspired by Jamie and I think this could be just one of those similarities. They are both selfless. They sacrifice their health, wants and needs for other people, even if it's so painful for them. Their love is unconditional. So I'm like...is this not something that Lucien would do for Elain?  He sees that she is possibly uncomfortable and not interested.  She misses the life she once had as a human, and she might be getting more comfortable with the IC and the Night Court. 

I can imagine him and Elain finally getting to know each other but Elain still hides her feelings for him, she is cautious to accept her mating bond because it would mean she accepts this fae life, and he is kind enough to accept her rejecting the mating bond if she wants to.  He could say it's too dangerous for her to be mated to him, that she won't have a life with him because he's an outcast with no title.  He is struggling to find a home.  

But Elain ends up choosing him.

The agency of choice is such a fascinating (and frustrating) thing to talk about when discussing the mating bond and it’s interesting how people talk about it when it comes to Elain because her choosing Lucien can be written in such an interesting way.  We can have this with Elucien: SJM can discuss Elain’s reluctancy, her complex feelings for Lucien and being fae and the trauma she’s experienced.  It’s reluctant mates, mutual pining, suppressing feelings, all popular tropes in the romance genre.

Yes, she could choose Azriel instead.  She could choose to have no male in her life at all and leave the Night Court entirely.  And she choose Lucien.  She could learn who her mate is, how good of a male he is, she could explore her feelings and why she is reacting the way she’s reacting, why she’s staying away, and she could choose him. 

This is a summary of my tiktok video, you can check me out on there! :)

[peony-plum]

Lucien Lachance: ah, just like the good old day in the guild.

[st4rrmii]

Been thinking about Lucien and Darius bonding over their love for The Land Before Time and crying over the first movie together

[dent-de-leon]

The way Mollymauk does that little smirk whenever he puts on a performance or has a little fun with choir practice……he’s so hot and I’m in love—

[temperedink]

you don't get well no more

Azriel is delivering reports to the River House when he accidentally walks in on a tryst (and stays to watch). It inadvertently provokes some revelations for him.

3K words, one shot

Featuring:

secret Elucien relationship ✅

voyeur kink ✅

defiling yet another dining room ✅

Lucien on his knees for Elain ✅

Az realizing he maybe has some issues to work out around falling for unavailable women ✅

Read on AO3.

Y'all, writing smut is HARD.

For my first smut ever, I accidentally gave myself the extra challenge of writing voyeur smut from the POV of the voyeur, which means I couldn't get in the head of the people actually experiencing said smut, and the voyeur is way too in his own head to be thinking too many sexy thoughts. But the couple is Elucien, so hopefully their inherent sexiness helps.

Title comes from a Fiona Apple's cover of an old Elvis Costello song that came up on my shuffle one day and inspired this fic.

[romanticatheartt]

Okay I kinda got it wrong about elainweek. So elriels that host the event banned people who ship elain with an abuser from celebrating (like Tamlin and Beron). And Eluciens thought they adressed them cause who tf thinks of Tamlain and especially beron and elain? Excuse me- BERON??

I'd like to stay away from the shipwar.. but elriels can't be serious now, right? Are they really pulling out the victim card?

The tamlain fandom is very small. Tamlin week didn't receive any tamlain submissions. And again- who tf thinks of Beron???

Are they seriously now pretending like Lucien isn't constantly villainized? Claiming that Elain is scared of him? That Lucien is an abuser or an abuse enabler? A very big artist on their side has called Elucien a "Abusive relationship" and that they wouldn't draw it when they were asked if they would take an elucien com. There's art of Lucien being potrayed as an abuser. They always claim Lucien feels entilted to Elain. Heck, do you know how bullied eluciens were before acosf? The tags were filled with anti elucien posts.

So yeah, obviously eluciens would feel like they're being attacked. Who tf knows who you're referring to when you say "abuser", your friends had no problem claiming Lucien is in someway abusive to Elain. Again, barely anyone thinks of Tamlin and Beron when it comes to Elain and based on all the sh*t your fandom claimed about Lucien, it is no f*cking wonder.

I'd like for elriels to see this so they'd understand why this whole drama exists.

Yes that's what I've been saying. Elucien's were constantly accused of being misogynist and hate women because they want Elain in a relationship she doesn't want and now they're saying Eluciens can participate because Lucien hasn't been abusive to Elain...

None of these make sense tbh. And if what you're saying is the case then I understand how all these has backfired.

[c-e-d-dreamer]

I know you have so many fics on your plate (and I am eating up every single one!) so no pressure or anything but I was wondering which one you might be updating next?

Hello, lovely Anon! First of all, thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying all the WIPs (how did I end up with so many WIPs? Lol) 🥺

Second of all, the next fic I am planning to update is hockey Cassian aka Top Shelf Love! I am actually planning to share a snippet of it tomorrow for WIP Wednesday 😉

And then after that it will hopefully be the next chapter of When We Howl. Key word being hopefully 😅 I keep getting stuck because I desperately want to just skip ahead to the chapter after... Where a certain favorite Vanserra will be making an appearance and pulling a "where is my wife?!" moment while Cassian just dumbly gapes and is like "we're allowed to care about our wives? I didn't know that was an option"

[rosesncarnations]

Does you cat rub noses with you? Mine does

[sungrave]

Alright just before i pass out cuz i just finished A court of frost and starlight foe like the third time and i just feel like Tamlin deserves more but thats not what i want to talk about right now but the part where Rhys botches about the wings and says i never heard an apology because hear me out, Tamlin might never apologize because

1. He is loyal af. He probably thinks he made big mistake, no forgiveness, he betrayed his friend, he broke faith and his loyalty is a joke

2. He thinks and im gonna kill die on that hill, that he should have been able to protect them or to save them or just done more . And because he failed, he deserves no forgiveness

He doesn't ask for forgiveness or apologizes because he is convinced he was and still is at fault and he deserves the hate and the suffering for what wasnt even probably his fault (because let's be honest it's pretty obvious his father and brothers were horrible and it was entirely completely on them)