#acotar pre-canon

[fourteentrout]

Tamlin with a tail, anyone? Click for quality

Dialogue ID:

T: “Wow, they really are so much smaller!”

R: “I’m aware, Tam”

T: “They’re cute. You should tuck your hair back more often”

T: “I’m sure females would love it”

R: “I’m not so sure about that, Tam”

[clockwork-ashes]

Chapters: 1/16 Fandom: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Eris Vanserra & Lucien Vanserra, Lady of the Autumn Court & Eris Vanserra, Beron Vanserra & Eris Vanserra, Eris Vanserra/Original Character(s) Characters: Eris Vanserra, Lucien Vanserra, Lady of the Autumn Court (A Court of Thorns and Roses), Beron Vanserra, Vanserra Brothers (A Court of Thorns and Roses) Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, The Autumn Court (A Court of Thorns and Roses), Originally Posted on Tumblr, this was posted over three years ago there and i finally have an ao3, my thoughts on the characters have changed quite a bit but i figured why not put this here too, anyway i love the autumn court and i wish we knew more about the vanserra family, wrote this right after reading acosf, and have still not stopped thinking about these books Summary:

Eris Vanserra is heir to the High Lord of the Autumn Court, but he often wishes differently.

A series of events in Eris’ POV starting when Lucien is born.

[ofduskanddreams]

The Sky Has No Walls

For @damedechance. The request: you know I LOVE "is the sky on fire?" So my prompt would be: a lil drabble about the first time Az trained/worked with daggers and what that was like for him. Alternatively, Az learning how to fly from Rhys/Cass.

This fic can stand alone, but will probably make more sense if you read Is The Sky On Fire? first.

The Bat Boys (platonic) ✦ Rated: T ✦ 918 words ✦ on AO3

Azriel knows they mean well. The shadows assure him that they have no ill intentions. The comments from Rhys and Cassian as he stands on the edge of the tall rock, however, are seldom helpful. 

The air is crisp and piney. A steady wind blows through the trees, rustling their needles. He’ll never get tired of the smell, of the fresh air filling every corner of his lungs, of looking at the open sky stretching endlessly above instead of dark rock.

Azriel shakes his head, sending droplets of lake water flying as he looks down at the moonlit water. Rhys and Cassian are sitting on the smooth top of the rock behind him, waiting.

It’s frustration—that’s what the shadows called this particular heat-in-his-chest sensation when he’d asked. 

“You can do it, Az,” Rhys encourages.

Azriel wants to tell the insufferable little lordling (a funny nickname for Rhys that he’s heard their peers use often) that he doesn’t think he can. He wants to give up, to go back to the house and the warmth of the bed that Aella insists he will get used to.

But then Azriel recalls the faces people make at him when he walks through the camp. Some see the shadows and fear him, sometimes that fear is mixed with another feeling the shadows called “pity,” but the expressions that stay with him into the late hours of the night are the sneers (another word the shadows taught him.) It’s those people who call him a no-sky when Rhys, Cassian, and Aella are out of earshot.

He doesn’t want to be a no-sky anymore.

The first time it happened and Rhysand did hear, his Fae magic had lashed out and shoved the person into the mud. Rhys had gotten in trouble for that, so Azriel pretends that the name-calling has stopped. He is already confused about why the two boys want to spend time with him, grateful as he is for their help with strengthening his wings. Azriel can also admit that it’s kind of nice to not be alone, even if it has been an adjustment as Aella calls it.

“Your wings are strong enough now,” Cassian adds from his place beside Rhys. “You just need to trust them.”

He says that like fighting the pull of the ground is easy.

“It’s hard,” he tells them, turning away from the water and sitting cross legged before them. “Flying is too different.”

“What do you mean ‘different?’” Cassian cocks his head, then has to brush his hair away from his eyes. “You’re Illyrian, we’re all born to fly.”

Azriel doesn’t know what to say, exactly, but he wants to make them understand. That way, they won’t be so disappointed in him. “The sky… it’s so big. It doesn’t end.”

His shadows settle around his shoulders, offering him the comfort of their slight weight as he thinks through his next words. 

“I was born with wings, but I lived underground until I was brought here. My room was small and it was mostly dark, but I always knew where the walls and the floor were, even if I couldn’t see them.” Azriel takes a deep breath, keeping his gaze fixed on the gray rock instead of their faces. 

He doesn’t want to see their disgust, he’s seen it once before and it hurts. That’s why he doesn’t like to talk about before with them. He knows his life was wrong and that they don’t like it.

“The sky has no walls. And that is… strange,” he finishes awkwardly, hating how sometimes his words don’t match what he wants them to say.

Azriel doesn’t realize he’s fiddling with his glove-covered hands until Cassian’s finger hooks around one of his and he goes still, looking up at the younger boy. 

“It’s okay to be afraid,” he says. 

Rhys copies Cassian, hooking a finger with one of Azriel’s on the opposite hand. “The sky is very large, but that’s what I like about it. I can go anywhere. When I’m flying, I am free.”

Azriel looks up at Rhys, confused. “Aren’t you already free?”

“I am,” Rhys answers. “But flying is a different kind of free.”

Azriel didn’t know there were multiple kinds.

“Flying,” Cassian begins, “it’s like a different world. Everything on the ground becomes so small, it’s like it doesn’t matter anymore. And it’s fun.”

“That sounds nice,” Azriel says. Because things that happened on the ground not mattering anymore sounds like everything he wants. But he’s also still afraid. “The ground is all I know. You say I need to trust my wings, trust the wind….” Azriel tugs his hands away, tucking them under his thighs and admits, “I am not good at trust. I do not know the sky like you do; I don’t know how to trust it.”

“Do you trust us?” Rhys asks quietly.

Azriel looks up at them. “I think so.” And that surprises him but he thinks he doesn’t mind.

He knows he likes the way his words make Cassian and Rhys smile—it makes him feel warm. 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to keep trying tonight,” Rhys says with a nod. “The sky isn’t going anywhere.”

“Neither are we,” Cassian adds. “I’m excited to fly with you—when you’re ready.”

Azriel stands, brushing his hands on his trousers. They’re still soaked from his last attempt, but the way Rhys and Cassian are looking at him fills Azriel with a new determination. 

“I’ll try once more before we go.”

✦ ✦ ✦

tagging: @iftheshoef1tz @octobers-veryown @talons-and-teeth @ablogofsapphicpanic @foundress0fnothing @moonpatroclus @panicatthenightcourt @krem-does-stuff @areyoudreaminof @fieldofdaisiies

[thelibraryoflightandflowers]

Don't Touch Me

A short one-shot/re-imagine of Feyre's first visit to the Night Court, because I sometimes wish she had been angrier at Rhys and because I need to get some feelings out.

Feyre

I didn’t want to be here. I would have stayed in my bed all day if I had the choice. 

The choice. 

When have I been given a choice, lately? I couldn’t think of one time, since…since Under the Mountain that I had been given a choice. It made some foreign, unbroken part of me sick. The part that roared at the frilly dresses, the jewelry, and choosing decor. I ignored that part of me. It was easier that way. Things would get better; Tamlin would get better, someday maybe I would get better. I just had to be patient with him. 

That tugging on the bond that had dragged me from that enormous bed came again. I had been sitting in the bath for too long, I supposed. I got myself dressed, welcoming the numbness I felt. It was better than honesty. Better than the rage I felt bubbling every moment of my day. Better than that one, old, unbroken part of me screaming in anger at what I had allowed myself to become. 

Nuala walked me back to the hall, where a table with heaping plates of food - far too much for two people - waited. It disgusted me, this extravagance. This unnecessary show of wealth. Somehow, it was different than it was with Tamlin. 

Wasn’t it? 

“Good morning, Feyre darling.” That voice crooned. I hated that voice. Hated the man - male - it belonged to. I didn’t bother to hide it. I ignored him, sitting as far away from him as I could - which was admittedly not that far. The table wasn’t the long, large dining table of Tamlin’s manor. I assumed that he’d shrunken it in the same way Tamlin did at home. I didn’t move to put food on my plate; I simply sat there, staring at my hands in my lap. Ignoring the Night Court attire I wore. His voice shook me from my thoughts again. I hadn’t heard him, and frankly didn’t care enough to bother to ask him to repeat himself. Why should I care what he said? It was all lies anyway. 

“Ignoring me, are we Feyre?” 

I forced myself to look up, to meet the eyes that sometimes appeared in my nightmares. 

“What do you want, Rhysand?” I didn’t keep the scorn from my voice. He deserved it, for everything he had done to me, to Tamlin and his family, to everyone he’d hurt Under the Mountain. 

“Right now, I want you to eat. Then we can talk about the plan for the week.” He smiled in that cold, infuriating way that never failed to make my blood boil. I didn’t move, content to sit there instead. He didn’t get to tell me what to do. That small part of me suggested I throw some food at his stupid, perfect face. I laughed, inside, but refrained, if only because I knew that as good as I was with a bow and arrow, my aim was far from decent. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards a little, as if my refusal was somehow amusing. I scowled. 

“Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, did we?” He simpered. Just for a second, I let that small part of me rise, let myself think of all of the hateful things I wanted to say - how awful he was, how much of an utter monster he was, how I wasn’t surprised that he and Amarantha had gotten along - I stopped myself after that thought. I didn’t want to think about her. His small smile slowly faded, replaced for a second by an expression that looked like pain, before it was wiped from his face and replaced with his signature smirk. I didn’t care enough to wonder why. “I wonder why. It’s not as if I was essentially kidnapped yesterday, or anything.” Again, that pained expression flashed across his face. 

“Eat.” He simply responded. Slowly, I moved to place a bread roll onto my plate. Followed by a little bit of the other, many, foods close to me. He watched, silently. So I ate, silently, resolutely ignoring the male sitting across from me. When I was done, he waved his hand and everything disappeared. Another arrogant display of power. I turned over his earlier words in my head.

“Now what?” I asked. 

“This week, I want you to learn to read. You should also really learn how to shield yourself from people like me, especially if you’re going to be a High Lord’s bride.”

I could feel that anger boiling again in me. I shoved it down. “No.”

“No?” He asked, quietly, dangerously. That mortal part of me cowered in fear. That small, unbroken part of me rose to the challenge, roaring back. I ignored both. 

“If I want to learn how to read, or shield myself, I will; but it will not be with you. Ever.” I let some of the malice drip into my voice. He did not get to order me around, that small part of me whispered. For once, I listened. Who knew what would happen if I let him boss me around, gave him that room. He’d no doubt take advantage of it. 

All too quickly, I could feel his dark talons in my mind. Once again, everything I was, my body, my soul yielded to him. I hated the feeling, perhaps more than I hated everything else. 

“ This is what happens when you have an unguarded mind. You are completely defenseless against me. Is that what you want?” He snarled. I was panicking, trying to get him out and it wasn’t working and I couldn’t stop thinking of everything I had been so good at ignoring these past few months. 

“Shove. Me. Out.” He snarled again. I tried, shoving blankly at the darkness, the thoughts trying to pull me deeper into my mind than I was willing to go, and I couldn’t do - I felt that small, unbroken part of me step up, and imagined a wall of black adamant, saving me, protecting me, from this male . I felt it snap down, slicing through the tendrils of power in my mind. I felt him fully recede from my mind, as if letting me win this round. My mind felt like jelly. 

“Good job. Blunt, but effective.” He responded. I could barely hear him over the roaring in my ears. He got up, still talking but I couldn’t hear him, and he walked to the doorway. I felt him pause, and really look at me, and I could imagine what he saw: my hands, gripping the table so hard I thought it would shatter, the face, pale and ashen, the eyes, wild and teary. He started towards me, but I forced that calm, cool numbness back onto my face. Forced myself to control my breathing. I could not show weakness in front of him, I knew that much. It would be like a deer limping in front of a hungry wolf. I stood up, waiting for him to turn back, to walk towards wherever we were going. Forced myself not to panic, to come up with a million horrible possible destinations. I forced myself to meet his gaze, and ignored the flash of something that looked like guilt, like pain , in his eyes. He turned, and walked out of the room. I followed. 

Rhysand

What had I just done? As I walked towards one of the studies, I tried to erase the image of Feyre from my mind. Of her pure, undiluted terror at me, my power, what I had done. I tried to forget the entire interaction we had just had. I had felt so prepared, as I had sat down for breakfast. So sure I could handle this, handle her . I was, obviously, so very wrong. I had tried so hard to stay out of her mind, the unspoken anger there. I was surprised I hadn’t broken down when I had truly felt the extent of her rage towards me. When I had heard the thoughts she had practically screamed down the bond at me . I couldn’t focus on them right now; I just had to keep myself together for the next few paces, and then I could break. Could let myself sink into the hate she had for me - she thought I was a monster, and I couldn’t blame her. 

We finally reached the door, and I opened it, strutting into the space, making sure that mask was present on my face as I turned towards her. Her face was blank, unnervingly so, a mask as careful as my own. I didn’t let myself dwell on it. I motioned for her to sit at the desk, where sheets of paper appeared with a wave of my hand. She bristled when I showed her the alphabet, snarking at me that she wasn’t stupid. I wanted to scream, tell her of course she wasn’t stupid, that it wasn’t her fault, that it wasn’t a shortcoming of hers . I didn’t. I watched her struggle to read the sentence I had written out, crooned out the sentence hoping it would make her laugh - it didn’t. Of course it didn’t. I told her to copy the alphabet, and raise and lower her shields. She snarled at me. I left, without another word.

 I winnowed just outside the door, waiting. To see if she threw something, screamed, slumped onto the desk, anything . Instead, I heard something that hurt worse than anything Amarantha had done to me. I heard her cry, softly, as though she didn’t want to be heard. I had never hated myself more than I did at that moment. Her thoughts replayed in my head. 

No wonder you and Amarantha got along . She thought I was like Amarantha. I winnowed to my bedroom in the palace, the one that I rarely used. I didn’t like staying up here, so close to the Court of Nightmares. So far from my City of Starlight. I sagged against the door, until I hit the floor. I felt sick. I could feel her practicing - at least I had accomplished what I had wanted to. But at what cost? I let her thoughts replay in my mind, let the horrible things I had done wash over me, and I began to cry. Crying, for the monster she thought I was, for the guilt that washed over me endlessly, for the pain, so much pain, that I had caused her. When I felt that the time was almost up, I stopped. I walked into the bathroom, splashing some cold water on my face. I looked into the mirror, and all I saw was the monster she thought I was. Perhaps I saw the monster I really was. I plastered the mask back onto my face, and winnowed back into the study. 

She still sat in that chair, with pages of her letters, copied again and again, spread out before her. They were nearly perfect, a neat scrawl that was so vastly different from before that I beamed with pride, inside. On the outside, I smirked, and tried to sneak a small tendril into her mind. I was met with a black wall of adamant. She had already made so much progress in such a small amount of time. I was in awe of the female in front of me, in awe of how fast she learned new skills. I wished I could tell her that. Instead, I stretched out a hand, which she ignored, in favour of standing up herself, stepping around me, and beginning to walk back to her room. I stayed frozen, my hand still outstretched. She couldn’t even touch me. 

I winnowed without thinking, ending up in the townhouse, where Mor, Cassian, and Azriel waited for me. I didn’t register them, not really, nor did I register falling to my knees, darkness swirling around me. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think beyond the fear, the pain, the hatred Feyre had for me. Mor sensed that this was a moment best shared between my brothers and I, and winnowed away - no doubt to get some sweet treat for me, as she usually did. Cassian and Azriel stepped into the bubble of darkness I was in. I didn’t care that they could see the tears running down my face, hear the ragged sobs as they ripped from my mouth. 

“Oh, Rhys.” Cassian breathed, rushing for me. He hugged me, hard, and the darkness faded slowly, returning us to the front hall of the townhouse. Azriel joined the pile Cassian and I had made on the floor on my other side, and I allowed myself to simply cry, knowing I’d never be judged, never had to hide my feelings with these males. 

“She hates me.” I sobbed, not even bothering to control myself. 

“Rhys, she doesn’t know you. Talk to her, get to know her, she will understand, she will see you for who you are.” Azriel, ever the voice of reason, responded. 

“Yeah Rhys, once she gets to know you, she’ll love you.” Cassian chimed in. I wanted to believe them, but I had never told them all of the things that had happened Under the Mountain. I had never told them all of the awful things I had done; I knew they would not see me differently, but I couldn’t admit the things Amarantha had done, what I had let her do. Not just to me, but to everyone in Prythian.   

Feyre

As I walked back to my room, I tried to shove the anger I felt back down into the cage I had built for it. I could feel the careful control slipping, the pain I felt constantly threatening to bubble up into a rage I was scared I wouldn’t be able to control. Although, I wasn’t in the Spring Court. Maybe I should let myself loose on these fae, on that male who ignored every feeling I had because he was bored. Why shouldn’t I? After all, he had done so much worse to me, to everyone in Prythian, to Tamlin and his family. Shoving all of those angry thoughts down, I collapsed onto the bed in my room, and didn’t move for the rest of the day.

It took a lot of energy, not being angry.  

As I walked down the hallway the next morning, I could feel Nuala eying me cautiously. I had woken up this morning because of yet another insistent tug on that bond, and it finally snapped whatever small amount of self-control I had been holding on to. I stormed out of my room, before calming myself enough to go back and change and let Cerridwen fix my hair. At another tug on the bond, I rose, taking a deep breath, before striding from the room and towards the dining room. I did not know what I was planning to do, or what I was planning to say, but I was sure that the self-control I had held on to for so long was finally gone, and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about it. 

I sat down at the table without so much as looking at the male sitting across from me. Hopefully, he would take the hint and leave me be. However, I didn’t think I’d feel that bad if I snapped at him, if I felt bad at all. He chose to ignore the clear signal I had sent.

“You look lovely today, Feyre darling.” He crooned. My blood boiled. I glared across the table at him, trying not to snap and scream at him. I reminded myself of Nesta in that moment, the fiery temper we shared had reappeared after being dormant for so long, it seemed.

“What, still angry at me?” He smirked, the smile being all I needed to let go of the final strand of decorum I had been holding on to. 

“Rhysand, I don’t think there is a soul alive that isn’t angry with you at the moment - not that I can blame them of course. After all, you whored yourself out for 50 years and let the rest of Prythian suffer, and for what? Was it just because you were bored? Is that also why you interrupted what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, making my reservations very clear as you did?” I was shouting now, and I couldn’t bring myself to care. 

He flinched. It was enough to make me pause, watching him. He seemed…cowed, like what I had said had hurt him more than it should have, and part of me almost felt bad. Would have felt bad, had that angry beast inside me not smothered the feeling in flames. I waited for a response, yet one never came. He just sat there, staring at me. I opened my mouth, and he flinched back again, like he couldn’t hear whatever I was going to hurl at him next. It was enough for the angry part of me to settle, so that I could rise to my feet and stride for the door. He wasn’t worth the anger, and I wouldn’t allow myself, however broken I was, to act this way. I wouldn’t allow myself to become like Nesta, angry and bitter. 

I stopped when a hand grabbed my wrist. I whirled around, yanking my hand from his grip. 

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, truly screamed. “Why do you think you can touch me, go into my head, take me away from my home, from my fiancé, just because you feel like it?!” I was in his face now. He backed up, face paling. 

“I - Feyre, I -” I didn’t let him finish. 

“Shut up! Nothing you say will undo everything you did to me Under the Mountain, nothing you say will fix it! You can’t lie your way out of this, Rhysand!” I continued to crowd into his space, my finger digging into his chest. His hands stayed by his sides, fingers twitching, as if he wanted to grab me. His face continued to crumple, and I continued to scream, not even noticing his pain…until I saw a tear run down his cheek. 

Rhysand

I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. She was so angry , and I understood why, but I hated it. Hated myself, for not thinking of a better plan Under the Mountain, for being the monster she said I was, and I hadn’t even noticed I was crying until I heard her sharp inhale, and felt the wet streaks on my face. I realized that I needed to be honest, I needed to tell her something , even if I couldn’t tell her all of it, couldn’t tell her what I had wanted to every time I saw her. 

“Cauldron, Feyre, I - I’m” My voice broke “ I’m so sorry .”.  She stopped, then took a step away, and even though she hated me I wanted her to come back, to feel her warmth against me. 

“I - You’re right. I was horrible to you Under the Mountain, and I can’t do or say anything to undo that.” I was crying freely now, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. “I want to help you, not hurt you. I meant what I said, Feyre, I am not your enemy. I’m sorry that I haven’t listened, and that I took you away from - from him. Please , believe me, Under the Mountain, I - I was trying to keep you alive, and I didn’t know how else to do it, but that doesn’t make it right.” I paused, unsure if I should share this with her, this female who hated me, but I knew I had to be honest, if I could even hope of getting her to trust me. “Amarantha, she - I…I was not…with her because I wanted to be. I…I was trying to keep my people safe.” I didn’t go into more detail, I didn’t think I could, not with everything that had just happened, everything I had said, still ringing in my ears. I held my breath, waiting for her to stomp on every part of my heart that I had just laid bare in front of her. I didn’t realize my eyes were closed, until I snapped them open at the feeling of a hand on my arm. She had tears in her eyes, too, and I didn’t step away, letting her touch ground me. 

“Rhys…I am so sorry. I should never have spoken to you that way, no matter how angry I was. Thank you for telling me the truth.”. 

She slowly, so slowly, opened her arms and placed them around me, giving me the chance to move away. I didn’t, letting her hug me, placing my arms around her middle, before slowly, giving her the chance to push away too, leaning down to bury my face in her neck. She didn’t pull away either. 

I didn’t want to let myself hope, but a part of me thought that maybe it would be okay, between us. Whatever that looked like.     

[ircnwrought]

i'm caving. i'll add their tags/info this weekend sometime

++feyre ++rhys

[theknittingoracle]

I am so excited!

Me, thinking about repairs, packing to move, packing to go out of town TOMORROW, making three hundred lists to keep straight the details of two stressful family Christmases, bolting awake at three am: ELUCIEN MURDER HONEYMOON

[lovemyromance]

Bro the thing is - I'm not even anti-Elucien.

If SJM were to do a full 180 and suddenly ACOTAR 5 is all about how Lucien comes to Velaris and actually spends time with Elain and Elain starts to slowly fall for him and they have whatever XYZ cute moments - I'd be down!

I'd read that book. I have no shame in admitting it. Smash.

If SJM were to suddenly write Elucien giving each other the time of day and finding whatever "healing" in each other - cool- that's fine - smash.

But what we have been shown of their relationship thus far in the books - I legitimately cannot ship that. There is nothing for me to root for?

"But they're fated mates"

Yeah that means jack shit to me because I'm a human woman. Why would I put value in a fictional concept over love - a very real and human concept.

Elain & Lucien - as they have been written right now - literally do not have a relationship?? Let alone a romantic one I want to root for. They ignore each other. Live apart from each other all year - seemingly without issue. Elain doesnt even want to be in the same room as him. She shrinks away from him. She has a wary look in her eyes when she looks at him. She makes sure she never sits next to to him. She doesn't use any of his gifts.

So just tell me - what am I rooting for? What about their current relationship is supposed to be worth my interest? Why would I want them together if they're like THAT? That's not a romance - that's not even acquaintances. That's a pass from me.

On top of all that, we have the introduction of a male Elain actually seems to want. They have had build up - far more than Elucien has. Azriel is constantly written on the page with Elain and vice versa. Whether it's when his shadows light up at her smile or when Elain's potato steam rises like Azriel's shadows. Like why did SJM even write that about potatoes? Nobody has EVER looked at the steam from potatoes and thought "wow it looks like shadows 🤩"

They've been explicitly tied together on page countless times, far more than Elucien has even though they're "fated mates".

Not tied together through fan-theories of cloaks and sunlight and flowers and ugly black dresses.

Canonically, Elain & Azriel's is the only romantic relationship on the page.

So everything Eluciens are rooting for - is just the hope that "one day" Elain will get over it and suddenly she and Lucien will be together. Suddenly, Lucien & Elain will have feelings for each other and be in love blah blah.

Y'ALL ARE TRYING TO FIND EVIDENCE FOR A SHIIP THAT IS NONEXISTENT ON THE PAGE.

That's what bothers me. Elucien is currently not together, not interested in each other, not even around each other in any proximity.

All this debate is about current state Elriel vs pre-successful Elucien??

It's giving ... that one Jason Mendoza line in the Good Place where he says "I'm not a failed DJ... I'm pre-successful."

"It's not a dead ship - it's pre-successful!"

It's like.. let's ignore what is actually written in the text ... so we can argue about how they're not gonna work out bc XYZ reason... even though the other pairing isn't even talking to each other right now.

"All this is buildup for Elucien" how are y'all saying that if we don't have the next book yet? 😭😭 Can I then say... well your buildup is just buildup for Ultimate Elriel Engame?? Uno +4? Reverse reverse? Where does it end?

Build up - as the name implies - has to BUILD UP TO SOMETHING. How y'all saying "Elain and Lucien ignoring each other is buildup for Elucien" if there is no Elucien in sight??

I'm telling you rn - once there is an Elucien in sight - on the page - smash, idc.

But until then - I have literally no reason to doubt Elriel? So why would I consider Elucien an endgame ship if there is no endgame in sight for them on the page?

[bxriles]

A while ago I announced that I would be writing a fic about an uprising in the Court of Nightmares. Here’s the summary I gave:

There's a set of siblings in the Hewn City, dreamers who have been abandoned by their High Lord. One of the sisters enters into a political marriage with Rhysand (pre-ACOTAR) and mysteriously ends up dead after discovering that he's found his mate. After the people learn of her death, a rebellion led by the two remaining siblings ensues in the Court of Nightmares and goes all the way up to Illyria.

WELL I am happy to announce that the first chapter will be posted on Sunday, June 16th! I’m planning to post it on my ao3 but I could be persuaded to post it on Tumblr as well if people want that.

As a disclaimer, if you’re someone who LOVES Rhysand and the IC, this most definitely is not the fic for you. If that upsets you, please just scroll on and protect your peace. There is a reason why I mostly used anti tags here.

K THANKS! SEE Y’ALL SUNDAY 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

PS - I’ve gotten lots of questions in my DMs ever since I initially posted about this, so see below for some FAQs:

Q: Is this an anti-Feyre fic?

A: Nah. While Feyre certainly is an antagonist, she is not the villain. Feyre has her flaws, but she’s not who the characters in this story have beef with. That would be Rhys. That said, the Hewn City characters do not like/respect her because of what she represents to them.

Q: Will there be romance/who is the love interest?

A: Yes! I can’t help myself and I loooove to include romance when I can! Eris will be the love interest, but the romance will not be the main focus.

Q: Will this be a y/n fic?

A: No. This will be a story with several OCs. I know people tend to dislike OCs, but the reality is that we just don’t know that many canon CoN characters, so I need OCs to tell this story. Plus, I personally love OC stories and I like writing them. I hope that you’ll be willing to give them a chance!

Q: How many chapters will there be?

A: I’m honestly not sure because I keep waffling with the chapter length. I have 15 chapters outlined, but that could grow into 20 or shrink into 12 depending on how my revisions go. Let’s tentatively plan for 15, give or take a few as time goes on.

Q: When will updates be posted?

A: As was the case with all my other fics, I’ll do my very best to update once per week, usually on Sunday. There may be weeks where a chapter is a few days late depending on how hectic my life is, but I will do everything in my power to update every week! I take a lot of pride in being someone who always finishes my fics, and I don’t want to start leaving them incomplete now!

[iocaisaint]

Random ACOTAR takes

cw*: my unsolicited opinions

I agree with #that woman that canon Lucien and Nesta (and I mean pre-ACOSF) would've been terrible for each other sorry

As of right now Nesta is the only Archeron sister with direct connection to the Dusk Court, like her and her alone 🤷🏾‍♀️

Out of the love square (?) Lucien is lowkey the only one with a storyline that isn't made out of paper mache and hope. There's so many angles you could go: Beron, Eris, LOA, The Autumn Court or Spring Court, Tamlin, or Day Court, Helion, being an heir, or helping Vassa with Koschei + his overall friendship with Jurian + Vassa + humans as a whole and that's without touching on the mating bond even once. Real set-up wished she'd done that with everyone else

That being said, I disagree with a bunch of Lucien's stans when it comes to his characters, y'all have a power fantasy for him that's in direct contradiction to how he's actually written (I mean I get it the books treat him like trash)

If Nesta is pregnant I'll have a crash out to end all crash outs.

Everybody in this fandom bar maybe Feysands are shipping fanon, the scenes that y'all talk about and the ones that exist on page are either not the same or straight up don't exist.

I hate the HK/HQ plot even for Nesta, like is blatant colonialism.

Everybody here is a hypocrite when it comes to their faves we'd all be happier admitting then bending over backwards.

I do not care for Elain, simply because fanon Elain is so far removed from what's on page, that most her pro arguments simply don't make sense to me.

There's no reason for Helion to give up his Pegasi but I know HOFAS was a mess but when the place was revitalised after the Asteri were murdered they came back, my guess is that place and the prison are mirror worlds so the same will happen once the Prison is liberated

Azriel isn't boring but he also isn't extremely interesting. If he was a girl no one would gaf about him, but there are enough concepts of an idea where I could see his book not being awful.

Neither the pro or the anti side gives a fuck about Emerie, double points if you're engaging in that ship war. No I won't expand on this, I'm right.

Nessian sucks, that's all.

Actually no I'm expanding on that point, the fact that people defend no "I love you" from the MMC is crazy, that fact that people defend Nesta being threatened without Cass stepping in even worse, the fact that Rhys knows he can berate Nesta in Cassian's presence....like they had an 800+ page book and I'm still having to hear about how they need to "grow as characters" y'all aren't serious people

I've become more neutral-positive to Feyre because some of the arguments against her are just crazy but on that note she'd be deeply more entertaining if the narrative wrote her refusal for self reflection as a flaw

Gwyn cannot be a evil light singer and irrelevant at the same time please pick one.

Also I don't hate the light singer theory, sorry. Monsters not actually being monsters is this series's bread and butter. It'd be great if a woman finally got that treatment

I can already tell Eris is about to be retconned to hell because SJM hates a character not being vindicated by the narrative to redeem them (she already started by implying Eris wants his father dead for #feminism). Let it be known I like/d him as is

I don't get into arguments about Rhys cause I find him boring. Y'all are fighting day in day out about faerie Ronald Reagan

Nesta should've been bi, how tf did we get stuck with Mor

I have more but that's it for now.

[lordofhaterism]

Like for context as to how bad ACOTAR's descriptions are, Pre-Acowar azriel fanart was the wild west. Some of it is just people ignoring descriptions for vibes (all the depictions of az as pale despite being directly described as tan in canon get me) but like most of it was because nothing entirely coherent about him was described other then his colour scheme, so it varies from literal emo hair but toned down to I Can't Believe It's Not Rhys to Severus Snape but with a smaller nose for no good reason to the bowlcut hes usually depicted with today. And notably the bowlcut isnt even that common pre-acowar, its basically mostly Charlie Bowater doing that, with the most common depiction being Rhys but Gother. Then the colouring book happens and its essentially becomes THE canon depiction of these characters, streamlining the entire situation.

[elainsgirl]

This is azriel thinking that Gwyn is charming: "A warrior sizing up an opponent, all traces of that charming irreverence gone." Yet he only thinks of Elain sexually.

Hey anon, I rlly appreciate the fact you took the time to give me a canon quote disproving what I said,

however on that note, I wouldn’t exactly be jumping up & down with glee - Anon, irreverence means to show disrespect to someone/something that is regarded and treated with respect. In this content, Gwyn was charming with Az as she is with everyone but didn’t you get the vibe she didn’t exactly want him there? From her early dismissal to her mundane answer when Az asked about her solstice - she wasn’t exactly giving, “omg Az is here with me! Im so happy!” Vibes. The only thing about Az that held her interest was the shadows and his title *cough* even to the end, Gwyn was focused on cutting the ribbon, not once looking back at Azriel.

Its like when you run into your teacher after school. You put on this fake, “miss im so glad to have ran into you!” attitude, but deep down you want to run the other way from the awkwardness of unexpectedly running into her. Then you both stand around for a good 5 minutes making polite conversation whilst secretly wishing it was over, you talk about school, maybe ask your teacher how she’s doing or ask a vague, general question about something in her personal life she’s shared, “Miss, how’s your dog charlie? You mentioned she was poorly,” in which she responds, “oh, he’s better now darling”. You stare at each other and cue your exist to leave whilst making a mental note not to go to that shop anymore at the time you did to avoid such an awkward interaction from happening again.

Thats the vibe Gwyn gave Az in the bonus. To the last part of your comment, anon, the bonus was one present moment of Azriels life. Its not his entire thought process. It won’t show his full feelings and opinions, only the ones he’s feeling at the moment the bonus takes place. I don’t know how long you’ve been in the fandom for - but before acosf, so pre-2020, the biggest anti elriel arguement was Az doesn’t view elain romantically. He has no attraction towards her and sees her as a platonic sibling. Then the bonus comes along and completely annihilates this arguement. Sjm disproved it & established Elriels relationship as romantic with a side of attraction. These new ACOTAR books are NA therefore anon, the male Li will have explicit thoughts about his LI. Its not a bad thing.

Sjm didn’t need to spend her time convincing us Az cares abour elain, she’s done that multiple times over the course of 4 books. She didn’t need to spend her time telling us why Az likes elain - you can 1) deduce that from the books and bonus 2) this is saved for the main book where the mmc during his grovelling monologue will tell the fmc all the reasons he’s obssesed with her.

Sjm however did need to categorise elriels relationship into it being romantic or platonic and with the way the bonus went, she made it the former. Just like she did with Nessian in their bonus, she categorised their relationship immediately into romance, so when you read Nessian’s scenes, you read them with a romantic tone. The same can now be said for elriel, everything Az did for elain from acofas to acosf, can now officially be read under a romantic tone erasing the idea of elriel being platonic. Sjm successfully ended one of elriels biggest anti arguement.

Idk why Az having explicit thoughts about elain has you clutching your pearls, you do know if gwynriel is endgame, he will have the same thoughts about Gwyn? Ig Lucien most also only want elain superficially since he also had explicit thoughts during his monologue. Have you read wings & ember? Azriel’s bonus is a parallel to it

[fourteentrout]

For the first time since they started training together, tamlin took his shirt off. Rhys didn’t know how to react. Mostly an excuse for me to draw a shirtless hot guy with big pecs. And Rhys’ tats, those are fun to draw. Click for quality.

[pastelpinkkadan]

I’ve been in the ACOTAR fandom for a long time. Like, before ACOSF was even announced long time. So I’ve seen the progression of this fandom and here’s something that’s interesting to me.

People new to the books (or people who have ONLY read ACOSF, which is another topic for another day), may not know that at one point Elriels and El*ciens had a mutual understanding with one another.

Regardless of your ship, everyone basically agreed that Elain’s book would be a love triangle between Elain, Azriel, and Lucien.

Now, how that love triangle would end was where we disagreed. And also if one ship had more promise than the other. But that was FINE. We all still agreed that either ship had enough potential for a love triangle trope to at least HAPPEN.

But that’s all gone out the window. As soon as the whole “Gw*nriel” ship started popping up, I swear so many El*ciens BOOKED it to the Gw*nriels. Suddenly, there was no possibility of a love triangle. Now, Az and Elain would have absolutely nothing to do with each other because Az was all about Gwyn. Like, no love triangle tension or drama. Just, “oh he’s with Gwyn now so Elain will be with Lulu. In fact, there was nothing romantic with Elain and Az in the first place!”

And the biggest difference I’ve seen is the “Elriels are delusional” comments from El*ciens. THAT was not a thing until Gw*nriel came up. THAT is new!

Even though I shipped Elriel, I still respected El*ciens because they also respected Elriels. They understood why we shipped them, and we in turn understood their points as well. It wasn’t perfect, but it was way less toxic and hateful than what we have now.

And yes, I get that there are toxic Elriels too, but soooo much of it is a response to this strange shift. Like, no one refuted canon text or scenes back then. We all read the books, we just disagreed on how things would end. And you know what? I MISS that. Bring it back. 😭

Pre ACOSF El*ciens (love y’all, 😘) > Post ACOSF El*ciens

[ofduskanddreams]

CH 1: I See The End Before It Started

Rated: E Chapters: 1/? Words: 3960

Summary:

[Five Hundred and Eighteen Years Before ACOTAR]

Rhys tried to pull his magic back but his power desired the opposite. It felt his rage and demanded vengeance. Because this couldn’t happen, this couldn’t have already been decided, it couldn’t—he wouldn’t allow it to go through.

“Rhys.” Azriel’s voice was hoarse, jarring him back to the present. “Rhys, please.”

His feet moved, depositing him on the bed and he drew Azriel tightly to him.

“Everything,” Rhys vowed, face half-buried in Azriel’s neck. “I will do everything I can to stop this, brother. I will not let him have you.”

“Who’s trying to take him?” Cassian snarled, rising.

Az made a noise into Rhys’s shoulder, the sound was only recognizable as a name to him because he’d read it on the letter now crumpled in his fist.

“Az?” Cassian gently implored.

Rhys felt Azriel’s lungs expand, freeze, then contract. He lifted his head. His eyes were glassy, rimmed red. To Cassian he turned and spoke those two damning words: “Eris Vanserra.”

from chapter one—read all of it here on ao3! (be mindful of the tags)

tagging (just guessing here. probs forgot some folks. let me know if you want to be added/removed)

@damedechance @iftheshoef1tz @ablogofbipanic @foundress0fnothing @melonsfantasyworld @lady-riel @krem-does-stuff @octobers-veryown @houseofhurricane @the-lonelybarricade

[maybeiwasjustjade]

The Tragedy that is the Vanserra family

*I just want to preface this by saying that I’m well aware that this might be a controversial opinion. My issue is simply with how that particular pairing was written, because clearly not a lot of thought was put into it when SJM changed canon to fit this pairing in. This was also not written with the intention of victim blaming. Only that this plot genuinely sucks ass because it makes everyone out as uglier than need be.

For such minor characters (sans Lucien, and Eris to an extent), the dynamics SJM has blessed us with paints such an interesting family coated in absolute tragedy. It also doesn’t help that almost all of it was seen through Feyre’s pov—who’s not exactly reliable nor capable of introspection most times.

All we know so far of Beron and his relationship with his children amounts to:

Aside from Helion and Rhysand, Beron’s the only HL that was active during the war 500 years ago.

He abuses his wife, though when it started is still ???

He routinely tortures Eris, and more than likely all his remaining children

He LOATHES Lucien

And it’s so easy to paint Beron as this needlessly cruel, manipulative 2D bastard who only exists to cause pain and carnage over everyone that breathes near him. The male tortures his children and sentenced one of them to death for falling in love with someone ‘lesser’—that alone makes him the worst male to come out of acotar by a landslide.

But there’s an art to Beron’s cruelty that SJM could have fun with. Routinely siccing and manipulating his children against each other, forever ensuring that they’d be too busy fighting and hating each other over him so that they’d be unable to overthrow him. And maybe he does have his reasons. Maybe he thinks that this is the only way possible to raise an heir that would be ruthless and merciless enough to overthrow him and destroy his competitors—probably the same thing Beron did to claim his throne. And if the children are too busy with each other to go after him…all the better.

Show them no compassion. Torture all the disobedience out of them to make them strong. Pit them against each other to please him. Heinous tactics, but evidently it works when Eris and Lucien are the results of it.

But this dynamic only works if that was who Beron is, and how he was raised to be. I don’t suppose we’ll ever really know, not unless a large chunk of Lucien’s future storyline revolves around his roots in Autumn. But knowing sjm and how dirty she did Spring, Lucien’s arc will be about Day.

But back to Beron and the LoA:

Curious how the LoA is still nameless, but SJM purposely and canonically provided a timeline to show how much of a poor victim the LoA is. I want to make it clear that I am not condoning the abuse the LoA is facing from Beron. I don’t think anyone deserves to be abused or tortured the way Berons does his family, nor will anything justify it.

However, I am side-eyeing the way she WROTE Helion and LoA’s affair. I think what she little she wrote yet specifically gave painted them both as absolute fucking morons.

Canonically, we have no idea if Beron knows without doubt that Lucien isn’t his. Hell, we have no proof that he even knew about Helion at all; only that Helion certainly believes so, and what Feyre perceives as the truth. And that truth is ugly.

My opinion is that for the story to work, Beron can’t have known about Helion specifically. An affair perhaps, but not specifically who. Why? Because I wouldn’t doubt Beron would have killed Helion for it the moment he found out. Helion wasn’t High Lord until <50 years pre-Acotar. If Beron wanted Helion dead for having an affair with his wife, I doubt even the previous HL would have stopped Beron from lobbing of Helion’s head. Now assuming Beron knew about the affair specifically, but not about Lucien, I can see canon coming to fruition.

The only issue is Lucien’s features. He needs to look very, very similar to the LoA and not at all Helion. If Beron knew it was Helion, he’d be paying double attention on Lucien’s features to see who sired him. But say he doesn’t care who did it, only that it did. Lucien was screwed from the getgo as a possible affair baby. But that’s hardly the biggest issue with how the affair was written.

According to Helion’s recount of his affair, it started during the war when he rescued the LoA. Sure, rumor has it they met before her marriage, but it wasn’t until then that it became an actual affair. And it lasted decades. We don’t know how old Lucien is. Most have guessed that he can’t be older than ~400 at series starts. Following the timeline provided by Helion, there’s about 130 years age gap between Eris and Lucien, and five sons between. The LoA had at least two more kids born before the war started, leaving three sans Lucien to be born after.

See where I’m going with this?

If the affair only ended because Beron found out, preferably before Lucien was born or he’d be dead at birth, then on-off or no, that affair lasted a century. My question is: did Beron begin tormenting his wife before or after he found out about the affair? And was he already torturing his children before he found out, or was that punishment for what their mother did?

If Beron only began abusing and assaulting the LoA after Helion, then there’s a chance he only started hurting his sons around that time too. It also begs the question on whether or not Helion sired more than one Vanserra child. Even if the answer was no, it’s not like Beron would believe the LoA. Not after she cuckolded him. So he hurts her as punishment, doubling that pain by going after all their children too.

Lucien especially, for being mama’s favorite. I doubt Beron ever had to do much to encourage the torment Lucien faced from his brothers. He never had to; she did it to him all on her own by loving him best. And in a household where everything is a competition and love a weakness, Lucien was weakest by being the most loved. Oh, how they must’ve loathed him for it. His birth was the reason their lives became a living hell. A mother that perhaps loved them, but not enough if she outright favored the youngest, knowing his existence was their punishment.

But that’s the kinder story, if you can believe it. A female who was never happy, who found happiness outside her wedded husband, and was punished for it terribly. Her cold husband turned cruel bastard, who punished her for the crime of finding joy outside of him and their children. She didn’t know this was going to be her future.

Yet, the alternative is so much worse.

Because it implies that Beron already was a cruel and abusive bastard, who already hurt his wife and children immensely, and the LoA went and had an affair anyway. I can’t blame her for wanting to escape from Beron. Perhaps she was actually happy with Helion. But she did it knowing that the punishment would be so much worse if Beron found out, and he did.

Helion couldn’t have protected her. Claiming Lucien as his son would’ve been a death sentence to both from Beron’s wrath. And with a century long affair, there was no proof that Lucien was the only one that wasn’t Beron’s child. Not unless most of the Vanserras look like their father more, and we don’t even know that because they have no names or features described. And even then, the LoA was lucky that Lucien’s skin tone and features favored her instead.

I don’t care that a woman cheated on her abusive husband repeatedly. You do you, and all that. I care that the LoA is written as knowing what an absolute monster her husband already was to their living children, and clearly not thinking of what he’d do to them if she’s caught. This is Beron—he could’ve killed all their children as punishment. The man tortures his son bloody—I wouldn’t put it past him to kill them all and start fresh. She put them in so much danger by having Lucien.

I don’t like the way Helion knows what a bastard Beron is, yet not caring when he had a century long affair with a HL’s wife, knowing that she might be killed if found out. And he would be powerless to stop it.

I don’t like how neither of them even considered that she might’ve gotten pregnant from their affair, especially knowing that the LoA already had SIX CHILDREN.

I hate how their affair is going to be spun into some kind of romance of the ages, mates who were forcibly separated by a monster, when in reality it’s more like the love story of two morons who didn’t spare a single braincell to actually think before going back to each other often enough to have a whole ass CHILD.

Jfc, SJM definitely didn’t think through enough when she decided to add this into the story. Too many plot holes, and not enough sense to justify the absolute stupidity of cuckolding a High Lord with someone who couldn’t even protect her if they were caught. She wanted drama but spared no thought to logic, per usual.

[olenvasynyt]

Beron: "But here in Autumn, you’re going to keep your boots clean.  All of the stupid shit you enjoy doing with villein faeries in pubs and peasant forests are to be left behind.  Forgotten .” He swiped his hand in the air as he spoke. Lucien’s flinch was just a twitch of his jaw. “If you cannot do that for a single day then I will be happy to remind you what happens when you embarrass this family.”

Lucien five minutes later: *decides to hang around in a lesser fae town, goes out alone into the dark forest, get buzzed from alcohol, thinks its an A-OK idea to sleep in trees infested with monsters, takes shoes off to sleep bc its presumably "more comfortable" - all so he can continue to flirt with very attractive and endlessly fascinating female*

lol dude

Excellent summary of ACOEAS LMAO!

Beron has other pressing concerns rn, and Eris got Lucien’s back 🫡 or at least a salve for his back

But seriously, sometimes I get a little nervous with how I write young Lucien because he can be very foolish in this fic, but this comment a reader made on my last chapter (with Lucien being stupid) is an excellent analysis of what I’m trying to do in this fic!

The part where his sense of danger is atrophied is a wonderful description of not only my fic but also Lucien in canon! He can be very reckless. And it can be for very noble reasons (standing up against Amarantha pre-ACOTAR, helping Feyre UTM, going to Night to see Elain, going to look for the human queen). All of these were dangerous for him, but he pushes through the danger. Some times he’s cautious, but other times he’s such a wild, stubborn idiot.

He told Amarantha to go back to the shithole she crawled out of, and that was when he was older with an important job lmao. Young Lucien?? That bitch was probably even more reckless.

Thank you for reading my fic btw, it’s so niche but I am so happy a few people are enjoying it 💕🍁