#acowar canon AU

[crazy-ache]

Chapter 12 Update

Summary: One moment. All it takes is one singular moment to change the trajectory of fate. Following the events of Hybern, everything changes when Lucien instinctively grabs his mate—Elain Archeron—and brings her back to the Spring Court with Feyre and Tamlin.

In the midst of war and ruin, Elain and Lucien will have to face the bond that connects them together if they hope to survive the unintended consequences. To do so, they’ll have to prevail through games of deceit, powerful forces of magic, and deadly enemies. And hope their hearts survive the journey.

A retelling of A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOWAR) and a Canon Divergent AU.

Notes: Chapter 12 Update - Butterflies (Lucien’s POV). What if I told you we needed more angst?

Start on AO3 | Read Chapter 12

“What happened?” Elain choked a gasp out.

His russet eye looked back over his shoulder, aware that he was revealing his scarred back to her for the first time since meeting. The lashes had never properly healed, remaining as faded pink welts that criss-crossed down his spine to his lower back. A physical map of the suffering he had endured Under the Mountain. They marked him for a little over a year now and were still relatively new to him in the span of an immortal’s life. Yet—he had barely looked at them since the curse had broken. He could feel how disturbing they must have appeared and he did not wish to see another scar beyond the one that already haunted him in the mirror.

“Amarantha happened,” he gritted through his teeth, pulling a shirt to cover himself.

Tag List: @zenkindoflove, @bonecarversbestie, @little-fierling, @yaralulu, @ataraxiasflame, @slipmerfoot, @areyoudreaminof, @comeonladiesitstime2yearn, @teddyhoneybear, @the-darkestminds, @goghwilde, @positivelyruined, @sad-scarred-sassy, @works-of-heart, @sonics-atelier, @mr-agent-mulder, @shadowqueenjude, @christeareads, @emmers-bens123, @olenvasynyt, @what-about-elvenis

[velarisdusk]

i know i havent been as active as i usually am, im just getting something REALLY good ready for yall

[willowwere]

Whispers of Springtime - Chapter 3

Spring has become a fallen Court. Monsters roam the forests, greedy Lords vie for control of the land, and magic everywhere is dying. Refugees are flooding the other Courts, Night most of all. One day, Elain Archeron is kidnapped from Velaris and wakes in Spring. She is the last prayer of a desperate people- if she can find the missing Tamlin and make him fall in love with her by Calanmai, there is a chance to reverse the decay and save the Court. If she fails, Elain will die along with Spring itself.

This story holds all canon up through ACOWAR, with the alteration of Tamlin being Elain's mate.

Archive of Our Own

Chapter 3

Elain

Wandering the grounds of Roancrest Lodge, my mind struggled to reconcile Feyre’s stories with the reality of what I was seeing.

The beautiful estate she had described was long abandoned and decaying, with large swaths reduced to rubble. Haddin said that was done mainly by Hybern’s soldiers as they fled, but also the denizens of Spring in protest of Tamlin, and even the High Lord himself before vanishing. Most of the second floor windows were shattered, and whole chunks of the house were nothing but open air and crumbling stone.

I knew from the stories that there were expansive gardens- especially a grand rose garden planted by Tamlin’s father. At some point, weeds choked the life out of the flowers before they, too, succumbed to the dampness and rot. Nothing could survive in this Springtime. Nothing was budding or blooming, everything was blackened and shriveled.

Something lurked in the distant treeline, watching us. Hadden kept close beside me, occasionally stilling to stare down a shadow out of place. It would vanish with an echoing cackle that made my blood cold and my heart race, but within minutes my stomach would lurch as another shadow detached and began to track us.

“What is a dearg?” I asked him finally, for that was what Dillie had called the creature in the forest. 

“A nightmare with a physical body. Probably something leftover from Amarantha’s rule. She bred them as a hobby.”

He was forthcoming with the information. At least, if I asked certain questions he was. Ones that implied curiosity with Spring or the situation in the Court. Anything he deemed frivolous earned me a snarl. 

If his words could be trusted, Haddin was a few centuries old, close in age to Lucien Vanserra. He was indeed a Calanmai child, after a disguised Amarantha bribed the daughter of some vassal Lord in order to take her place in the Rite. 

Again delighting in how uncomfortable it made me, Haddin explained how the High Lord would be overwhelmed with the magic and directive of the Cauldron. His blood boiling and hormones surging to the point where he would be blind with aching lust. All Amarantha had to do was don the ceremonial mask representing the Mother and make sure she was the one in the cave when he came, possessed, to do the deed. 

As for Haddin himself… Tamlin had no idea. Amarantha kept her son’s identity a strategic secret, and dragged him to Prythian during her invasion. She intended to reveal him to Tamlin once the High Lord bent his knee and became her willing slave…

 Since Tamlin never knew, naturally Feyre didn’t either, and he never appeared in her stories.

During her reign, Haddin had established himself in a corner of Spring as a minor lord- after the real one was killed by an attor. It didn’t take the denizens of Spring long to realize that his manor was so remote and so inconsequential that Amarantha’s minions seemed to avoid it entirely. 

He became a respected member of the community, and watched over the fae who fled to his lands for sanctuary. In Hybern it was all military camps and the brutal lessons his mother taught him about power and domination. In Spring, he wasn’t feared. He wasn’t a soldier. He wasn’t Amarantha’s son. 

And then he found his mate, and could only offer prayers to the Mother than the High Lords would find a way to shatter her control and execute her. If she knew who his mate was, she’d likely force Haddin to kill the male himself.

“If Tamlin never knows I’m his, I will be thankful,” Haddin had said to me, the request clear. “He has the same opinion of lesser-fae as Amarantha did. Daenny and I have no interest in being part of his family, nor including him in ours.”

Dillie was apparently Daenny’s younger sister, though she’d spent Amarantha’s reign as a simple gardener. She hadn’t known her brother’s fate during those 49 years, let alone how to begin looking for him after the curse was lifted. But he’d found her in the chaos after Feyre destroyed Tamlin’s hold on Spring, and brought her to Haddin for safekeeping. 

My head swam with it all. Something at the heart of me writhed at the thought that this wild male beside me was the child of my mate and another female. It was precisely why I needed to cut the fae out of my blood and bones and go back to being human. The mating bond revolted me whenever I thought about it in Night, but being in Spring…it was louder. I was aware of it in a way I’d never been before.

Was it all this talk of Tamlin? Some kind of territorial anger of Hadreddin’s very existence? The power of Spring? Or, if Tamlin were still somewhere within the boundaries of his Court, could it be that we were closer than we had been in years?

I didn’t want to know. I just wanted a way to make it stop.

Maybe there was a silver lining to all of this. I was in Spring, after all. The distance between this place and the human lands was infinitely smaller than it had been in Velaris. The only time I was closer to home was in the final battle against Hybern.

Not that it mattered.

Even if Haddin allowed me to wander off as I pleased, I’d never survive the journey to where the Wall once stood, or the days-long trek into human territory.

And even if I did, what then? My sisters or the Inner Circle would be on the lookout, and surely they’d reach out to Lucien, Jurian, and Vassa. That Band of Exiles was camped in the ruins of my estate, I’d practically be walking into their nets if I were anywhere near our village. Not to mention that I was still fae. Prythian was much more likely to have a solution to my problem than the human lands were.

I suddenly felt that I’d been wrong- I was no closer to the human lands than I’d been all the way north in Velaris.

“I want to be human again,” I said gently. I don’t know why I said it, but I’d carried the words in my soul for so long that I simply had to let them out.

It was my greatest dream, so why did it sound so hollow?

I expected Haddin to snap at me, or say something condescending in return. He sighed heavily, then caught my elbow to stop me from walking.

“As much as I hated life in Hybern- and you cannot imagine how much I hate that place- coming to Spring was another kind of hell for me. My mother spent my entire life calling me the crown prince of Prythian, and being hauled here- I hated it more than I hated Hybern. But I made a new home here. Found a single thing I loved, then more over time. Now it’s my home, and I would do anything to protect it.”

“I���ve tried,” I whispered. My chest felt too tight, and a tear slipped down my cheek. I had more that I wanted to say, but instead I pulled free of Haddin’s grip and resumed my walk, head low.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think fixing Spring will help you. Whenever Daenny’s angry or upset, I feel it too. The mating bond has a way of twisting your emotions around. I’m not empathizing with that irresponsible asshole, but if the High Lord is feeling the same disconnect as you… You both might be doing this to each other.”

All the more reason to be unhelpful, I thought.

What would it be like if my mate were someone kind and brave? If he were respected like Rhysand, beloved of his people? Would I feel less disgusted by the bond between us? Would I be more resigned to this fate? 

My mate was someone who abused my own sister- neglected her and left her to mentally decay until Rhysand saved her. He manipulated her to lure her into Prythian and then didn’t have the decency to protect her as both human and fae. He was weak, he was a coward, and in the end, he was a traitor. 

It was Hybern’s men who took me from my home. Even in my own terror, I saw the disgust and horror on Tamlin’s face as I was dragged out in Hybern’s castle. I know he didn’t play any role in what happened to me… but I still hated him for it. Hated him for standing there while it happened, for focusing on Feyre through it all. She wasn’t the one in pain. She wasn’t the one who drowned in that endless abyss.

Nesta and I had our lives wholly destroyed, and he only cared about whether or not Feyre liked him anymore. 

I whirled on Haddin, “I can’t-”

“You will,” he cut me off, his words flat and hard. “It’s eight months to Calanmai. Even if you stomp your feet and whine the whole time, you’ll do this.”

“I don’t want to.”

“DO YOU THINK ANY OF THOSE REFUGEES IN NIGHT WANT TO BE IN THAT POSITION?” Dillie had said we had to be quiet and careful of the daerg in the woods, so it terrified me when Haddin shouted at me.

My hands flew up to cover my mouth as my knees buckled. I whimpered, suddenly very small and very afraid. Nesta and Feyre were the ones who stood up to others. Not me. I felt myself swoon, but my arm was caught roughly by Haddin. A sharp squeeze sent a flair of pain up my arm and snapped me to my senses.

“Those fae gave up their homes and everything they ever knew. And they’re the lucky ones. There are plenty who died on the journey, who have died at the claws of beasts and fae alike here in Spring.” Haddin shook me slightly, forcing me to look at him, “You have a way to stop it. Spring never got the chance to recover from Amarantha. It was already on the brink before Tamlin let the whole thing collapse. All you have to do is find one male.”

“I don’t know how,” I whimpered.

Haddin had gone from empathetic to hateful in seconds. Once my feet were steady beneath me, he removed his hand. That hate though, it remained blazing in his dark eyes.

“You don’t get to give up until this Court is dead. Save the tears,” he snapped as one slipped down my cheek. “

I swatted it away hastily, my face burning. I couldn’t raise my head. Shame made me feel sick and small and weak. More tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I don’t remember the last time anyone shouted at me. People never shouted at me. I was nice .

And now this horrible male- he was a kidnapper! And the son of an equally horrible female. What did he know? How dare someone like him make me feel like this?

“I don’t care if you’re a coward,” Haddin’s voice softened somewhat. I could hear the effort it was taking for him to pretend to care about my discomfort. “I don’t care if you want to do this or not. You’re doing it. You are mate to the High Lord of Spring. This is your duty too.”

Unbidden, a murmur escaped from my lips, “No. I have nothing to do with Spring.”

“Turn around, then say that again.” Haddin snapped, stalking off.

I did turn- weary of the daerg watching from the treeline. 

A dead, ruined land. Flowers choked to death by weeds, which in turn were overrun by rot. An ever-present fog that cloaked the world in shades of gray. 

No birds, no bugs, no sign of life or light or warmth in this cold, broken world.

I looked down at my feet. The slippers were caked in mud and flecks of brown.

But my skin was flecked with green. Small slivers of bright green.

I crouched down and inspected my foot, brushing dead grass aside.

Where my fingers touched, only the barest hint of color appeared. I started, then quickly ripped up a single blade of grass to stare at the subtle change in color.

The green spot grew. Over the next few minutes, the grass dried somewhat, and grew warm and shiny. The green brighter and more verdant. 

My eyes lifted, now that I knew what to look for. Something pounded in my chest as I saw more green- not as bright, but undeniable here and there in the brush.

Anywhere my skin had touched, a hint of life crept back into Spring.

[separatist-apologist]

Hey MB<3 I just keep rereading your fics over and over and they hit everytime (like seriously they itch every scratch in my brain), but just wondering, do u have any elucien fics on your tbr rn, or recent ones that you recommend? I'm mostly looking for canon compliant bc that is crack to me but im not too picky, just looking for recs!

I ANSWERED THE WRONG ASK god kill me right now

You're so sweet. Sorry it took me so long to write this- I wanted to put together a good mix. I hope you like them- these are just one's I've read, there are more on @elucienweekofficials list of multi-chapter fics set in canon, too!

This is long so I put it beneath a cut. I tried to mix on-going fics with completed fics and not recommend the same ones I always do. If anyone finds this list helpful, be better than me and leave a review

I Believe The Word You're Looking For Is Friends by @kingofsummer93

Elain Archeron and Lucien Vanserra are haunted by ghosts of their past, unable to move forward, unsure where they belong.

Together they come to an agreement. He'll teach her everything he knows about Prythian. He'll take her anywhere she wants to go.

In return, maybe she can just stop slapping him so much.

All You Have Is Your Fire by @clockwork-ashes

'I can hear your heart beating through the stone.' For the briefest of moments, Lucien wondered if his mate would know exactly when his heart’s steady rhythm came to a sudden stop.

Elain goes to the Autumn Court demanding an audience with the High Lord to save the mate she can barely stand to be in the same room with. She ends up having to stay much longer than she bargained for.

What If I Told You I'm Back by climbingmountains

Come one, come all, it's happening again…Elain and Azriel have been married for ten years. Koschei is defeated, their family is at peace. And if she feels a hollow ache of something every once in a while, that’s just the price one pays for love and duty.

Until she comes home one day to the news that her husband has a mating bond of his own.

OR: I listened to nothing but The Tortured Poets Department for over a month and had a lot of angst to release.

Mockingbird by @avabrynne

After Lucien reluctantly agrees to meet with Eris, he’s shocked when his brother reveals his biggest secret: he has eight-year-old twin daughters. Unwilling to entrust them to anyone else and with Beron's gaze on him more intense than ever, Eris has Lucien swear to protect the girls and take them with him.

When it becomes clear they can’t stay in the human lands even when glamoured to look human, Lucien turns to the Night Court. While it’s easier to handle outbursts of young magic there, Lucien needs help. Enter Elain, who bonded quickly with the twins after their arrival. On top of everything else, Lucien and Elain start to navigate their bond while also finding out a few more secrets, like who Lucien’s actual father is. It's an Autumn and Day Court family drama Elucien and ErisxOC fic!

ACOWAR (Eluciens edition) by @crazy-ache

One moment. All it takes is one singular moment to change the trajectory of fate. Following the events of Hybern, everything changes when Lucien instinctively grabs his mate—Elain Archeron—and brings her back to the Spring Court with Feyre and Tamlin.

In the midst of war and ruin, Elain and Lucien will have to face the bond that connects them together if they hope to survive the unintended consequences. To do so, they’ll have to prevail through games of deceit, powerful forces of magic, and deadly enemies. And hope their hearts survive the journey.

A retelling of A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOWAR) and a Canon Divergent AU.

A Court of Ash and Sunlight by aturner1205

“I know you’d rather not get help from me. I know you’ve rejected our mating bond and I’ve accepted that. But I still want to make sure you’re safe.”

Her heart twisted in its cage, filling her whole body with icy tears that would not spill.

Tell him. He deserves to know the truth. Tell him.

And because this time the voice inside was hers, because it was strong and clear and right, she did.

“I haven’t rejected the mating bond with you, Lucien,” she said quietly, her chest pounding so loud she could hardly hear the words. “But I think I damaged it, because—because I’ve never felt it.”

The Scenic Route by @bonecarversbestie

Elain grows discontent with her role in the Night Court as she grapples with grief for her human life and powers that she does not fully understand. One evening she accidentally winnows to Lucien's doorstep and he agrees to take her back to Velaris via the scenic route.

Can I Be Close To You by @temperedink

Elain and Lucien have been feeling out their tentative new relationship for a while, and Elain is getting antsy about the slow pace she's set for them. But maybe it's time to take things to the next level.

Set a few years post-ACOSF.

Oceans Apart (Never) by angryramen

Living in the Day-Court with her mate seemed like a damning at first. But slowly Elain started to enjoy Lucien’s company. They conversed together in the Day-Court gardens and slowly became friends. He even promised to charter a ship to take her to the continent, somewhere she’d always wanted to go. But when the time comes to say goodbye…

The Heirs of Fall and Flame by arosebetweenthorns

Eris Vanserra has always been a complicated male. Born as the first son to a tyrant of a High Lord, he was raised on cruelty, learning never to reveal weaknesses. But as Eris' allegiances to his father's court are questioned, his loyalties forming with those across borders, he realises enemies in his own court - especially his father - may be too difficult for him to keep at bay, especially when he inadvertently sets his father's sights onto his youngest brother. Then there's Rhysand's Inner Circle to contend with - one particular shadowsinger that Eris can't seem to avoid... but does he even want to? --- Lucien Vanserra always thought his suffering at the Autumn Court's hands was behind him. But when his father shows a vested interest in him years after banishing him, it's clear he will have to fight to keep the fragile peace he's built himself. All Lucien wants is to be with Elain and begin a life of his own, but when Elain's life is threatened by his father, Lucien learns just how much he has to learn before life can truly begin.

This is a direct continuation of the events of ACOSF. Joint POV of Eris and Lucien.

A Court of Breaking by @aldbooks

A year after the events of A Breaking, Elain feels a tug on the bond and realizes her estranged mate is in danger. Lucien, now returned to the Night Court, wonders if he might have been too hasty in his decision to leave, and if there might still be a chance for him with his mate

Summer Heat by @zenkindoflove

Lucien nodded his head, looking for any cue that he was dismissed. “Got it. Keep everyone in line and try not to make an ass of myself in front of my mate. I’ll see what I can do.”

Summer Court is hosting the Summer Solstice Summit and the Night Court is sending their best emissaries to attend. It will be Elain's first time mingling in another court, and it's a good thing she has an expert guiding her: the mate she's been ignoring for the last two years.

Meanwhile, Eris has been sent to the summit to spy on Summer's developments. What he doesn't anticipate is entangling in a steamy, forbidden romance.

Post-ACOSF, Elucien, Eris x OC, Multi-chapter.

Healer In The Night by @infinitefolklore

Lucien has been away on the continent on a mission. No one has heard from him in over two months. Elain is worried. On a dark and stromy night, he shows up bloody on her doorstep. Elain nurses him back to health.

The Luck Of The Draw by @sad-scarred-sassy

Elain Archeron is determined to end her unwanted mating bond with Lucien Vanserra. She has resigned herself to a loveless life, convinced she will never be able to experience true love without the fabricated weight of an assigned mate.

Her plans take a sharp turn when her mate arrives with a proposition to accompany him on a mission to a foreign court. When no one else believes her capable of succeeding Elain decides to prove to herself and others that she is not as hopeless as everyone else thought.

Only this will mean she will have to face him, and with that all that she has sworn off, battling between not knowing where the mating bond's influence ends and where her true feelings begin.

[highlordofkrypton]

Lucien

YESSSS LUCIEN THE KING LET ME RAMBLE ABOUT HIMMMM DISCLAIMER I DID NOT FINISH READING THE SERIES SO!!

How I feel about this character

Lucien is the real star of the show. I think he was written so strongly in the first book that even though I knew Tamlin was the main love interest, a part of me hoped that the book would swerve to Lucien. I hadn't read any spoilers, but I knew this book was HIGHLY recommended, so I expected something exceptionally good like... polyamory? Did that finally take the world by storm and were the girlies losing their shit over not one, but two book husbands? I was wrong, oops.

I think he has the most depth, all things considered, and it's a shame that SJM decided to cut Lucien down in favour of her favourites. As a writer, I believe that there will always be a character who steals the show unexpectedly, and when that happens, it should be nurtured, not destroyed.

He's definitely one of those characters who deserves the spotlight and can turn a story on its head if she just followed the muse.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

For Lucien, I look at his ships in different ways.

In canon, I think that Lucien and Feyre in the first book could've done amazing things. I DNF'd at ACOWAR so I have no business in the ship wars. I did write one Lucien x Elain fic, but that's mostly because I liked the prompt. I don't mind the ship, but I don't actively participate in Elucien things otherwise.

In my own fanfiction, I don't have Lucien shipped with anyone. The nature of the story doesn't leave room for Lucien to have a romance yet, and I tend to let these things happen organically than plan them.

In the Twitter AU, I do joke around with Tamcien or an OT3 with Tamlin, Lucien and Andras.

Lastly, I do have some oneshots planned for Cassian week and DO NOT ASK ME WHY my brain went this way, but Lucien x Cassian is on the list. Again, I don't really follow canon, so it's my himbo Cassian with Lucien. It'll be soft, loving things, which he deserves.

I'm generally open-minded to any ship, tbh. Someone just has to point me in the right direction.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

It has to be Tamlin and Andras. I dedicated the latter third of my fic to establishing their dynamic, and I really believe that the three of them balance each other out in a healthy way. Losing Andras upset that balance, and now everything is out of whack. I also had Andras w/ some Winter blood in him, so it was a nice balance between the fire of Autumn, the bloom of Spring and the cool winter (except Andras was not cold at all!).

My unpopular opinion about this character

Lucien's characterizations suffers at the hands of narrative that keeps putting him at the mercy of the 'main characters'. It's very possible to have charming and charismatic side characters, but there seems to be an inherent insecurity in the writing itself whenever another character other than the main couples starts to shine. I'm not faulting any of the other characters, I just really feel like after the first book, SJM seems to be forcing things rather than letting the story unfold organically. Not sure if this opinion is unpopular at all!

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

This may still happen, but I wish that we would have adventured with him when he disappeared for most of the narrative in ACOWAR. Where did he go? What did he do? How did he feel when he was apart from his mate? So much has happened to Lucien at that point, and he's such a clever character, I would love to hear more of his voice/see more of him. Not sure if SJM can deliver!

AHHH I HOPE THIS WAS OK!!

[kale-theteaqueen]

Nessian Week 2024 Masterlist

A Masterlist for my 2024 #nessianweek submissions!

Return to full Masterlist here.

Day 1: Banter

Bumpy Takeoffs and Happy Landings Bonus Chapter- Meet ugly in which Pilot!Cassian spills hot coffee on Diplomat!Nesta at the airport, only to fly her plane later that morning. Nessian, Shameless smut, one shot, completed.

Day 2: Yearning

A Fool's Errand, Rewarded -- Post-ACOWAR in which Nesta comes to a party only for Cassian to abandon her for Mor. Azriel calls him out, and he later grovels. Fix-it one shot, completed.

Day 3: Symphony

Symphonic Surprises -- Post-ACOSF drabble in which Cassian surprises Nesta by taking her to the Dawn Conservatory of Music. Drabble one shot, completed.

Day 4: Alternate Universe

Leap of Faith -- WWII!AU in which paratrooper Cassian meets a married Nesta while preparing for D-Day in England. Multichapter fic, ongoing.

Day 5: Behind Closed Doors

Behind Closed Doors: A Study in Boundaries -- 5 times a member of the IC witnesses Nessian behind closed doors, and one time they're truly alone. One shot, completed.

Day 6: Legends & Destiny

A Study in Coincidences -- Drabble in which classics student Nesta meets architectural student Cassian in front of her favorite painting, Lady Death and Her General. Drabble one shot, completed.

Day 7: Free Day

What's in a Name -- 5 times Nesta says Cassian's name for a reason, and one time she says it just because. One shot, completed.

To Choose Her: Nesta's POV -- Bonus chapter for To Choose Her, containing Nesta's POVs. Canon Divergence in which Cassian realizes the intervention is not working and decides to change course without telling the family. One shot, completed.

[sayosdreams]

ACOTAR MASTERLIST

sayosdreams masterlist

Guide

💌 : Completed fics

🌙 : Incomplete fics

🌸 : I'm open to writing more in the future but don't have plans to do so at the moment.

Thanks for reading!

Nessian

Sand and Stardust - multichapter Nessian pregnancy fic 🌙

** In progress **

POETRY: Painfully Overt Expressions of Trauma, Regret, and Yearning - AU oneshot 💌

Nesta and Cassian are in the same writing class in college

Of Bookshelves, Popcorn & Texts • Of Cell phones, Couches & Cafés - AU 💌

Angsty two-shot where Cassian and Nesta are in a good relationship until Cassian’s phone lights up with a notification: a text from Mor...

To rob thee of a kiss - AU oneshot 🌸

Nes and Cas steal a kiss from each other in front of a busy train station — but is that all they steal?

Drops of Sapphire - AU oneshot 💌

Nesta hasn’t told Cassian her secret. Angst.

Aquaphobia - AU oneshot 💌

A day at the pool with her sisters. Seems harmless enough, right? Nevermind the fact that she’s afraid of deep water...

Melted Dreams (Part 1, Part 2 ) - AU 🌙

Nesta finally landed her dream job — becoming a professional writer. Why was it, then, that she was sobbing outside of her favorite café?

Too - oneshot 💌

Maybe Nesta is too much for this world. Maybe this world is too much for Nesta.

Before the Dust Settles (Part 1) 🌙

Nesta had a miscarriage. Cassian didn’t even know she was pregnant. Angst.

Étude des senses: an incomplete collection of sketches & paintings - AU 🌸

Cassian is an artist. The beautiful, mysterious woman working in the bookshop is his muse.

Strange, Beautiful Unknown - oneshot 💌

Nesta stands on a balcony at night and ponders. Canon-verse, set around or after ACOWAR.

Picture Us (Together Forever) - AU oneshot 💌

Cassian and Nesta revisit their favorite memories from the past five years of their relationship.

>> Craving more Nessian? Here’s a list of Nessian fic writers! (Part 2)

Elriel

Stop and smell the roses - AU oneshot 💌

Elriel modern day fic where Elain owns a flower shop and is pregnant with her ex-husband’s baby.

Elain-centric

Love, Elain - oneshot 💌

Welcome to life in the display case, the sidelines, the background. Welcome to life being polite, pretty, and perfect. Welcome to life as Elain Archeron.

Pulling Weeds, Pushing Daisies - oneshot 💌

They’d all dismissed her, because how much harm could a cherry-cheeked little girl really cause? - Elain, revisited.

Other

Summer Nights and Faerie Lights - AU 🌸

Summers in Velaris mean sunny days filled with fun and drama. Join the ACOTAR crew as they navigate friendships, relationships, and the complexities of being a teenager.

[bittermuire]

Updated Masterlist

My Ao3 | Link to previous masterlist

•

Nessian:

The day after the next day - Nesta struggles to let Cassian into her life. Domestic fluff, modern au.

Nightmare - Shaken by nightmares, Nesta goes to Cassian. Angst, post-acowar.

The wrong confessions on a rainy beach - Nesta and Cassian talk after she decides to marry Eris. Angst, modern au but could be read in canon as well.

For you, there’s only love - Nesta reflects on her relationship with Cassian. Tiny little one-shot.

Be the first who ever did - Nesta gets sick and Cassian takes care of her, despite the tension of their loveless marriage. Angst, hurt/comfort.

Nezriel:

A nightlight and a bottle of wine - After she cuts ties with the Inner Circle, Nesta and Azriel strike up an odd friendship. Modern au, at this point the second part is urban legend but could still happen.

Moonlight - Nesta and Azriel talk about her recovery. Canon one-shot.

A rainy night in Velaris - Azriel walks Nesta home after a dinner with the Inner Circle. Fluffy and cute.

Rhysta:

A bitter heart - Nesta’s disastrous breakup with her boyfriend brings her and Rhys much closer, despite their less-than-favorable opinions of each other. Modern au.

Lukewarm coffee, a twinkle in his eye - Supermodel Nesta meets old money Rhys through a mutual friend. Lots of fluff and angst, modern au.

The red flower in my heart - After she cuts herself off from the Inner Circle, Nesta grows curiously close to Rhys. Canon one-shot.

Nesta-centric:

Turning the page, building a home - Nesta rebuilds her life with Gwyn and Emerie. Modern au, cute, domestic, from forever ago but I would like to come back to it eventually.

Evidence pt. 1 | Evidence pt. 2 - Nesta is married, and doesn’t bother to tell the Inner Circle the details. Set in canon and very self-indulgent.

A woman in the walls - Lucien goes to Velaris for the holidays, and is unsettled by Nesta’s absence. Gothic horror, Nescien if you squint.

Other:

Beautiful reflection | Mosaics - In the first part, Nesta leaves Cassian at the altar. Second part is Feyre-centric as she attempts to cope without her older sister, and comes to terms with her fate in Prythian.

Translation into Spanish by @nightsofvangogh !!! BR | Mosaics

Happy nesta | Nesta and mor | Gwynriel broadway au | Lucky

[feyres-divorce-lawyer]

... but now I want to know the cursed knowledge... 👀👀

had to remember what post this was ngl. anyways, when i was still on the stan side of the fandom there were a lot of acowar au fanfics where what feyre did was essentially taken from bad to worse, and still somehow tamlin would be blamed for further destruction. the one fanon in question tho was this one fic where tamlin somehow knew that feyre was there as a spy and then proceeded to, continue under the cut cuz this shit gets graphic. tw: rape, torture

then proceeded to imprison her and like graphically rape her almost everyday and torture, like actual almost medieval torture, info abt the nc out of her. even as someone who didn’t like tamlin then, i had to click out when it got so fucking depressing cuz like he wouldn’t, not in a million years, hurt anyone like that. and now looking back the author put feyre through all that for literally the sole purpose of making tamlin a villain. her internal monologue was like “oh of course he would do this, he’s so evil” it was just torture porn and senseless, and i never finished it but i wouldn’t be surprised if the author pulled a got and made feyre say that shit made her stronger or something. now as a firm anti, tamlin anti authors have this strange obsession with making him physically abusive beyond what was canon and they always hurt feyre to do it. she’s not even a person to them, just a device to make tamlin evil so they can get off on how morally superior they are, while forgetting that their headcannons are just that.

[achaotichuman]

Ho ho ho hello again! 🎅✨

I'd like to get to know you a little bit so that I can start gathering ideas for your future gift!

You requested Tamcien, so what is your favorite part of their dynamic? What moment or fic made you realize they were IT?

What kind of setting do you like? Canon aka Fantasy? Modern AU aka Urban? Do you like fics set during the holiday(s)? If so, what is your favorite holiday? And what do you like about that holiday?

On a personal note, what is your favorite food? Do you have a favorite movie or genre? How about a favorite song or artist?

That's all for now, but I will be checking in again soon! ✨💖

Hi again!!!

Ooooh so for Tamcien, I always thought throughout the series that they had a ton of chemistry, but the moment I thought they were absolutely IT was at the end of ACOWAR, when Tamlin and Lucien are facing each other for the first time since Lucien left.

The fucking tension in that scene, omg, I was scared to turn the page because every single part of my brain was lighting up saying "KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS" but I knew they wouldn't since SJM could NEVER.

But that was the point that I started hardcore shipping them.

My favourite part of their dynamic is how comfortable they are around each other. It's like they are extension of the other. They have had literally no one else but each other (maybe Andras?) for more than likely centuries. The way Lucien just knows every single little tell about Tamlin, and how Tamlin trusts Lucien like it's just second nature is everything to me.

For settings, I am absolutely comfortable with whatever setting sparks creativity for you, I read a massive variety of different flavor of fics. But the two fics settings I love the most are modern settings and in canon set anywhere between post-acofas and post-acosf.

I do like fics set in the holidays! My favourite holiday is halloween, mostly because of all the candles and the general vibe. It may be spring-summer here in Australia during October but I shall still live out my halloween in autumn dreams!

My favourite food... can't pick, I love too many foods. Probably the one meal I could have without ever getting sick of it, would have to be coffee, and anything remotely coffee flavoured.

My favourite movie is Beauty and the Beast, my favourite genre (for movies) is comedy, my favourite genre (for books) is historical fiction.

And my favourite songs are Guts, r.i.p, pity party (all by margØ) and Work Song by Hozier. They are also my favourite artists.

Thank you so much for the questions!!! This is all very exciting!!!

[c-e-d-dreamer]

*Incoming from Prythian Mail. The envelope is thick as the sexual tension between ACOWAR Nessian and smells of something that is so abstract it can barely be considered an adjective*

Elucien and Valkyrie supremacy, the impeccable taste continues!

Alright, let’s get into brass tax here, friend. A little more specific, jump right in now that we are clearly on a path to being best friends for life and fighting in the blood right together.

1.) How do you feel about the holiday aspect of SS? Big Christmas fan? Want to see Nessian at Solstice? Get 8 candles for a Nessian Hanukkah? Vaguely winter wonderland vibes? Nessian escapes it all to have the holiday season on a beach in Mexico/the Summer Court? I’m happy to be as holiday-forward or light as you want!

2.) Dream setting - canon or AU? If Canon, is there a specific time period you’re obsessed with? If AU, modern or other fantasy? Reach for the stars, I have no boundaries on what creatures can be made hot. If there’s something you’ve had on your mind, I’m here to fulfill your wish!

3.) let’s talk genre - fluff? Smut? Angst? Hurt/Comfort? Longing? Pain with a happy ending? Let me know any preferences and also anything you DON’T want!

*Letter disappears like all the side characters Feyre met in the Spring Court who are never brought up again*

Mmmm that ACOWAR Nessian tension.... I can taste it. I can feel it. I can cut it with a knife 🥵

1) Honestly? Whatever makes you most excited to write! I'm totally okay with holidays and holiday things (Christmas Solstice cookies and trees and music). I'm okay with just winter vibes (ice skating and winter markets). And I'm also okay if you say fuck it, it's July in this fic now 😂

2) I will say, I love an AU! Historical/Regency? Slaps. Modern AU? Slaps. You mentioned creatures? 👀 Werewolves and other shapeshifters absolutely slap!

3) Again, I love all things so whatever is really speaking to you! Wherever inspiration is taking you! I love pain. I love giggling and kicking my feet. I love steamy. As long as the happy ending is there? Sold. I feel like the only things I don't like are.... cheating/infidelity? Age gaps in a non-magical/modern Universe? Uhhhh... Maybe that's it? This is hard. I feel like I read most things

But I hope these answers help? Idk if they do. But I hope this Prythian Mail response finds you well! Unlike those poor Spring Court sentries #RIP

[crazy-ache]

Chapter 11 Update

Summary: One moment. All it takes is one singular moment to change the trajectory of fate. Following the events of Hybern, everything changes when Lucien instinctively grabs his mate—Elain Archeron—and brings her back to the Spring Court with Feyre and Tamlin.

In the midst of war and ruin, Elain and Lucien will have to face the bond that connects them together if they hope to survive the unintended consequences. To do so, they’ll have to prevail through games of deceit, powerful forces of magic, and deadly enemies. And hope their hearts survive the journey.

A retelling of A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOWAR) and a Canon Divergent AU.

Notes: Chapter 11 Update - Truths and Lies (Elain’s POV). Officially out of the Night Court. On to my silly imagination far away from what we know in book canon.

Start on AO3 | Read Chapter 11

The room felt as if it may suffocate her. Their impulses to coddle her from danger and difficult decisions were never-ending, one that persisted since she was a small girl. She should rip the engagement ring off her finger already, but she couldn’t find the strength to remove it. Not yet. It was the only remaining possession and reminder of her human world and past life. She wasn't ready to let go of that past yet, the one where someone did once love her. It weighed her down like an anchor, keeping her at bay amidst the chaos of this new reality.

Tag List: @olenvasynyt, @bonecarversbestie, @zenkindoflove, @little-fierling, @teddyhoneybear, @the-darkestminds, @yaralulu, @ataraxiasflame, @slipmerfoot, @areyoudreaminof, @comeonladiesitstime2yearn, @goghwilde, @positivelyruined, @sad-scarred-sassy, @works-of-heart, @sonics-atelier, @mr-agent-mulder, @shadowqueenjude, @christeareads, @emmers-bens123

[unhealthyfanobsession]

Begin transmission.

Agent Codename: U.F.O.

Operations are underway. Command needs the following intel to prepare ground strategy:

- Pinpoint locations of top 3 most elite Nessian scenes in canon

- Triage genres in order of likelihood: Fluff/Angst/Smut/HurtComfort/Romance/Comedy/Action

- Determine if the targets will be acquired in canon (concurrent or post-canon) or AU (precise coordinates are encouraged)

The fate of Prythian is in your hands.

-Commander Nessian

End transmission.

Begin Transmission

Base Commander Nessian

Intel has been gathered and a full report is enclosed.

Top 3 most elite scenes (in no particular order):

“Eat or Bed?” (ACOWAR chapter 63)- don’t ask me why but this scene in ACOWAR, the entirety of Cassian dragging his half torn apart body up to support Nesta while she scry’d and her LETTING HIM and then he’s just got his eye on her the whole rest of the night and is so focused on what she needs it melts my heart

“Her body stopped belonging wholly to her” (ACOWAR chapter 16) - I’ve said this before but this is an ELITE Nessian scene to me even though Nesta isn’t in it because it shows Cassian actually understanding her like other people (specifically in this scene his own family) just don’t. I love to see him defending her even though it hurts him that she’s closed off.

“There will be no one else, for either of us” (ACOSF) - what I actually love about this whole gift and mating bond scene is I think it’s the first time Cassian actually fights for their relationship and doesn’t run away (very ironic considering the next morning but hey sorry Cass you have some avoidance issues)

Genre Triage:

Romance/HurtComfort/Smut/Angst/Comedy/Fluff/Action

Target location:

Slight preference to targets being acquired in the canon world either current timeline or pre-ACOSF. However, depending on commander’s preferred style a modern or alternate fantasy AU acquisition would also be very welcome!

I await further instruction once the contents of this report have been received and communicated back to base.

Agent U.F.O

End transmission

[willowwere]

Whispers of Springtime - Chapter 2

Spring has become a fallen Court. Monsters roam the forests, greedy Lords vie for control of the land, and magic everywhere is dying. Refugees are flooding the other Courts, Night most of all. One day, Elain Archeron is kidnapped from Velaris and wakes in Spring. She is the last prayer of a desperate people- if she can find the missing Tamlin and make him fall in love with her by Calanmai, there is a chance to reverse the decay and save the Court. If she fails, Elain will die along with Spring itself.

This story holds all canon up through ACOWAR, with the alteration of Tamlin being Elain's mate.

Archive of Our Own

Chapter 2

Elain

When I awoke, it was to a different kind of night than the one I left behind.

My night had been one just set. The stars were bright and new to my eyes, the air humming with excitement after a long day’s work. It was a night alive and awake.

This night… Even without being able to see, I could feel that it was a night exhausted. The air was thick and musty, filled with midnight dew. Sharp to the nose, cloying in the throat. It was a night spent. The darkness was preparing to rest under dawn’s light.

Every bone in my body ached as I shifted, or at least tried to. 

When I realized I was bound, my mind screamed to life.

What I remembered in those first moments was not the alley in Velaris, or the strangeness of the female who wore Mor’s face. 

It was the screams as I was ripped from my bed in the mortal lands. The animalistic cries of pain from the servants as they were slaughtered. Terror so profound and so overwhelming that before the blades even fell, any sense of being human was gone. Sanity shredded away more thoroughly than with any knife.

Screams echoed in my ears- the screams of the long dead mixed with my own in the present. I thrashed and fought against my bonds as much as I had against the soldiers then. 

Feyre’s stories clicked into my mind. In her worst and most horrible moments, one of her males always appeared to help. Tamlin, in the early days. Rhysand later on. Azriel or Cassian when things became too chaotic. That was what changed when she became fae- she had someone to fight for her.

I didn’t fight my own fear. I screamed and thrashed and let terror overwhelm me. Maybe then, someone would hear. Someone would come. 

A blast of ice washed over me, shocking my entire body and causing me to gasp and choke on my own screams. Everything froze- my breathing, my thoughts, my cries. I was soaked in frigid water, laying now in a puddle of it.

That was when I finally saw the room around me.

I was laying on my side in some sort of ruined home. There was a green rug beneath me, scraped and scratched until it was little more than a pile of ribbon with chunks of white marble peeking through. Shattered pieces dug into my ribs and made my body ache. 

The walls had been destroyed as thoroughly as the floor. Maybe more so- silk wallpaper and wooden planks were visible in some rare places higher up, but so were the stars above my head. These ruins were old and overrun, dampness and rot had overtaken most of the space. The scraps of wallpaper and wood that I could see were all that was left, and even they were warped with the dampness that filled this place.

The one who had thrown water over me was standing in the open doorway, back-lit by the glow of a fire in what must have once been a hallway. 

“I’m sorry,” the voice was high and sharp- a female perhaps? They seemed anxious, their fingers fiddling with the edges of a bucket clasped in their long, knobby fingers. “There is a daerg in the west woods. Speaking is alright, but we can’t be too loud.”

“W-who are you?” my voice was trembling. “Wh-what is this place?”

“Roancrest Lodge,” my captor said, as if it were some place I should already know. “And I’m Dillie.”

I tried to take a deep breath and force my reeling mind to a halt. Had I ever heard the name Roancrest? Instantly, my senses rejected the name, but I was still terrified. Still panicking. My mind was racing a thousand directions all at once, how could I be sure that I didn’t know the name?

Where I was directly told me what kind of danger I was in. If I was still in Night, then it probably wouldn’t be too hard for someone to find me quickly. But if this was Hybern-

My stomach twisted and I barely managed to twist to the side before a wave of nausea caused me to lose what was left of last night’s dinner.

“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” Dillie appeared by my side in a flash of red light. The scent of apples overwhelmed me. Mixed with the cloying decay of this- this Roancrest Lodge- I gagged again just as I’d gotten a breath in.

Dillie quickly grabbed my hair, pulling the bronze locks away from my face and out of any further danger. She snapped her finger again and the sick vanished. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly. Dillie wore overalls that were heavily patched, but carried a clean and musty smell. I let that ground me, the scent of soap and dirt. Surely someone who smelled like soap couldn’t be too terrible?

I was just trying to make myself feel better, to delay things a bit perhaps and give my would-be rescuers more time to arrive… if they ever came at all. Still, Dillie didn’t push me. She let me breathe and waited patiently until I finally opened my eyes again.

That was when I noticed my clothes had been changed. Autumn had arrived in Velaris, so I’d worn a long woolen skirt with a dark green sweater that Feyre gave me for my last birthday. Now, I was in cream-and-peach dress with short, capped sleeves and a flowing calf-length skirt.

“Don’t worry, Alis used magic to change your clothes. We had to get rid of anything that carried too much of your scent. She’s good at that kind of magic,” Dillie said brightly.

“Alis?” the name was familiar in a way others were not. I was positive I’d heard it somewhere before, but where?

Wait-

The name didn’t belong to my past, but Feyre’s. As soon as that simple fact clicked into place, the other pieces were overwhelmingly obvious.

Alis was Feyre’s maid in Spring.

And a lodge with no name…

An icy fist wrapped around my heart. It froze me from the inside-out. I couldn’t breathe, could barely think. I began to pant, staring at the floor as it tilted and whirled. As I fought to stay upright.

“W-where T-Tamlin kept Feyre?” my voice was the thinnest whisper.

I didn’t hear Dillie’s response, but it didn’t matter. 

Spring. This was Spring. I could feel the truth of it in my bones.

My heart was pounding so hard that I was sure it must sound like a canon blast. I began to shiver. My legs were numb, and yet Dillie managed to drag me closer to the fire, babbling words I couldn’t understand. 

We’d been so careful, at least on our end. Azriel sent out spies and took care of anyone who knew about the link between us. Feyre, Rhysand, his inner circle- even Nesta was so careful to never speak of it.

As hard as it had been to learn Azriel was killing others to help keep my secret, it was preferable to the alternative. It was why I so desperately needed to be human again. To escape before anyone else found out.

I would rather die than have the world know that the High Lord of Spring was the mate to this fae body.

“We’re bound by an oath,” a slightly lower, pinched voice came from the shadows. “Neither of us can ever tell or communicate in any way to another living creature what you are.”

A lesser fae male- for his clothing was certainly male- staggered out from the shadows. His skin- like Dillie’s (now that I could see her clearly in the firelight)- was a mossy green that faded to dirt-brown at the tips of his ears and fingers. Those fingers were impossibly long, even for a fae, and each one thinner than my pinkies. 

He stood perhaps three and a half feet tall, maybe four if he stretched to his full height. As it was, he was hunched over, and leaned against the wall as he moved. One leg seemed to be not working properly, and his clothes had been patched so many times that I couldn’t even tell what the original fabric might be.

I looked from him to Dillie, now illuminated by firelight. They seemed extremely similar in appearance, but I couldn’t tell if they might be related. I’d never seen this kind of fae before, and it was hard to focus on anything other than their huge gold-flecked eyes. 

“I’m Daenny,” the male sketched a quick bow. It felt like mockery rather than any sign of courtesy or respect. “Welcome to Spring, Lady Elain.”

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, trembling. “My sister will find me. If you ask for a reward, I can convince her that you just found me, that you don’t know who-”

Daenny cut me off with a laugh, “She won’t find you, at least not by following our trail. We’ve been hearing stories about the Lord of Night since before your grandmother’s grandmother was born. Do you think we could get you all the way here and not know how to hide?”

“Daenny, don’t scare her,” Dillie waved him off. She put a bony hand on my shoulder and I jumped. “We’re not going to hurt you. I promise. We just… we were desperate. Everyone was.”

“Who is ‘everyone’?” I asked.

“Everyone is everyone,” Daenny snapped. “Every single person and creature in Spring is desperate. Every one of our people who had to flee because of what your sister did.”

Of course I knew the story. Of course I knew what Feyre did to cripple Spring and slow Hybern’s advance in Prythian. It was why Night was so generous with the refugees, Feyre’s way of trying to repay what her former subjects went through after she overthrew Tamlin and shattered the entire political structure of the Court.

“Tamlin is the one to blame for that,” I said, hating the feeling of his name upon my tongue. “And even so, my sister welcomes the people of Spring to Night every day. She gives food and shelter and opportunities-”

“So? Why should an entire Court be allowed to rot because of one fae?” Daenny glared at me, and no matter how unfamiliar his kind of fae was, I could see hate clearly enough.

“Feyre Cursebreaker was a kind female, even when she was human,” Dillie shot back. I could tell they’d had this fight many times before. “You saw how she was-” she cut herself off with a glance in my direction. Dillie smoothed her patched overalls and collected herself. “It was a bad situation. For a lot of reasons. The only ones who would blame her for leaving were the ones who didn’t see it for themselves.”

There was a lot I couldn’t do that Feyre excelled at. I didn’t have the confidence and self-possession to snap back or challenge them. I couldn’t fight, couldn’t free myself, couldn’t summon up fae magic or special powers or cast my mind out until I found someone who could help me. I could only sit there, scared and alone, and try to make sense of what was being said.

Daenny waved off Dillie’s words, “I don’t mean the Cursebreaker. I know you and I will never agree on that front. Stubborn brat. I meant the High Lord.”

The High Lord?

“What does-” Feyre could have figured it out. I was positive. But I was not her, or Nesta for that matter. I couldn’t take the threads they were casting about and weave a tapestry from it. I couldn’t guess the bigger picture, and it only made me feel small and afraid. “Please just tell me what it is you want?”

Dillie raised a hand to stop Daenny. “We’ll tell you, but… if you swear to not run away or try to hurt us, I’ll take the ropes off? Would you like that?”

My arms were bound behind my back still. They hurt somewhat, but I was so focused on my own fear that I’d honestly forgotten. I was vulnerable to them either way, even if the pair didn’t know it. If I had my arms or no, I couldn’t defend myself. Still, it would make me feel safer somehow.

“I swear.”

The arms that were bound were thin. Stronger than they looked, but weak. I didn’t know how to throw a punch or use the fae strength to my advantage. I didn’t know how to use anything at all to my advantage. Even when Tamlin first attacked our cottage and took Feyre away to what I was sure was a gruesome slaughter, I couldn’t muster up any fight. Couldn’t even run away beyond hiding behind a bedroom door.

Feyre and Nesta had their strengths, but I only had weakness. I couldn’t fight because I didn’t know how. I couldn’t harm them because it scared me too much to even try. I couldn’t run because, well, Prythian was dangerous, and the previous two points make it very clear why I couldn’t survive if anything attacked me.

If I even knew what direction to go.

Dillie snapped her long fingers and I felt the bindings on my arms vanish. The pain before was minor, but the pain when I shifted my shoulders now was infinitely worse. Dillie tried to rub my arms as I brought them forward to rest in my lap, not even daring to move my own fingers.

Tears spilled down my cheeks at the pain in my back. They unlocked something in me, and soon I was crying well beyond what the stiffness of my shoulders warranted. 

I wanted to go home. I just wanted to go home. Not to Night, home. It was all I’d ever wanted my entire life, to just be home and be at peace and not have to worry about the big, scary world outside. To have my place in the world as a fixed point, and be happy in that place.

Was that too much to ask? Was it such an impossible thing? 

What did I do to deserve this? Losing Feyre to the fae lands and everything that came after it- taking blow after blow, each time the ground beneath my feet becoming a little less stable. Each time finding my footing only to have it all fall apart once again?

All I wanted was to go home. Even if that meant the hovel- that was fine! Rich or poor, I didn’t care as long as I knew where my head should lay at night and knew my family was safe around me. Not palaces and jewels and crowns. I never wanted any of that. I just wanted… I just wanted home.

I cried for a long time. I cried more than I think I ever cried before. I felt so small in the world. So lost. So alone. 

In the farthest distance, I thought I heard a keening roar as I cried. 

I’m not sure when dawn came, but as my sobs turned to whimpers, I noticed there was something else filling the ruined hallway- other than the light of the fire. It was faint and gray, but it was there. The thinnest dawn, as the air grew colder and heavier.

“The High Lord lost his mind after the Cursebreaker left.” Daenny began to speak as I gathered enough of myself to move closer to the fire. My eyes burned from crying for so long, but I listened nonetheless. “At first he… he tried. Not much, not enough, but apparently those were the days when it was still good. When the rest of Prythian looked down on us as cowards and traitors.”

“But the High Lord was only concerned with getting Hybern’s people off our land,” Dillie cut in, before Daenny let too much of his bitterness shine through. “After they were gone and the war was over, we never saw him again. The lesser Lords of Spring always ruled their own areas, the High Lord never seemed to care much- as long as the tribute was paid. But he ignored the tribute, and he ignored his men, and he ignored his manor.”

“No one has seen the High Lord in four years,” Daenny said.

I suppose I was surprised, if I was anything. I knew nothing of this body’s mate. The last time I saw Tamlin was from a distance. The last time I spoke to him, I was begging for my life in Hybern’s camp. I didn’t know he’d vanished, but if Feyre or Rhysand did, they probably wouldn’t tell me. They knew I didn’t want anything to do with that male. Acknowledging him at all felt like it risked snapping the mating bond into place and shackling my soul to a monster.

“That has nothing to do with me,” I whispered, as much to myself as to them. 

“Mates have a connection.” Dillie saw me flinch at that horrible word. Mate. “No matter what happens, they can always find each other.”

Shame and indignation rose in me, giving my words a bit of bite, “I don’t want to find him. I won’t find him. My sisters will-”

A crack of thunder caught my words. I knew the sound of winnowing. My heart leapt to my throat and I stood in an instant, ready for Rhysand, Feyre, Azriel, Mor- whoever had found me. Of course it wouldn’t have taken them too long, the moment they realized I was missing, Feyre would think of Tamlin and the mating bond and come to this place.

He was high fae, that was certain, and yet… I’d never seen a male who looked less… fae. Long blood-red hair that hung heavy with the morning dew was braided back from his eyes and left to fall to the middle of his back. His eyes were pitch black, and nearly glowed against the lifeless pallor of his flesh. 

He had a hungry look to him, and watched me as a snake would a mouse. Unblinking, alert. Malevolent.

I’d seen Cassian and Azriel face down foes in battle, I’d even seen the King of Hybern himself. That kind of hatred and will to destroy had a physical presence. Something big and impossible and grounded. 

This male was a different kind of dangerous. He felt unchained and unlinked to anything as simple as the ground. A metallic tang filled my mouth as he stared at me. He was untethered. It was the only way I could think to describe the aura of him. Something that would not obey the understood laws of the land. 

“Haddin,” Daenny acknowledged him with a nod.

“How is it going?” His voice was deep and rich.

“She’s letting us know what her sisters will do.”

The male called Haddin laughed and some of the malice drained from him. “Your sisters will run into dead end after dead end- and even if they do manage to find you, they won’t save you. But that’s alright- if you do what we ask, no harm will come to you. You will even be celebrated in Spring.”

“What do you want me to do?” I didn’t believe for a second that Feyre wouldn’t find me. Or that she’d refuse to protect me. He clearly never met my sister, or he would know she was capable of anything.

Haddin came closer, crouching down in front of the fire and warming his pale hands. He didn’t take his eyes off of me, and I shivered at the way the fire reflected in his black irises. A demon given shape.

“No one has seen the High Lord for four years. He’s a piece of shit, and I couldn’t care less if he lives or dies. What I do care about is the fact that he’s letting this Court wither and die too, and that directly impacts my ability to live quietly and peacefully. Do you know what Calanmai is?”

The word wasn’t wholly unfamiliar, but the truth was that I had no idea what it was- beyond, of course, being the night Feyre and Rhysand met. I’d heard that story a few times over the years, but the focus of the story was them, not whatever was being celebrated at the festival or why.

I shook my head.

“Spring’s High Lord is not like the others, just as Spring is not like the other Courts. Spring is rebirth, it’s the waking of life. The magic for that is primal and elemental all at once. Other Courts see Calanmai as a fertility rite, the most inbred would call it an orgy.” 

Blush stained my cheeks as Haddin continued, “The Lord of Spring merges with the Cauldron’s power of Making and- for lack of a better term- he breeds that power into a willing female. It doesn’t matter who, and it doesn’t usually result in any offspring. Only if the male is supremely unlucky. At the moment of climax, that power of Making combined with a feminine womb creates a chain reaction that fills the land with renewed power. Raw life.”

“The ritual takes place where the Cauldron’s power is strongest, a cavern not far from here.” Dillie said, patting my shoulder to try to ease my embarrassment at hearing of such things. “But the High Lord hasn’t been there in years, and the magic of the land is dying.

“How is that fair? That an entire Court hinges on one male turning up to fuck someone once a year?” Haddin seemed to take pleasure in how uncomfortable I was with this whole conversation. There was a hint of a smile in his snarl. 

“If the High Lord misses another Calanmai, I’m afraid Spring won’t be able to recover,” Dillie sat down beside me and wrung her hands, long fingers tangling together. “There is already so much suffering, so many fae who can’t make the journey north will perish.”

“And the human lands will be overrun with monsters as the decay spreads south,” Daenny offered. He seemed a bit more relaxed since Haddin appeared. Both were blunt and mean in different ways, I supposed they must be friends.

Mention of the human lands naturally attracted me immediately. Faerie beasts and monsters had filled the northern forests ever since the Wall was destroyed. I knew Rhysand and the other High Lords kept forces in place to hold the border, but if Spring became a hive of those creatures, would they still be willing to die to protect the human lands? Or would the forces retreat to the borders north of Spring? Protect the fae at the cost of mortal lives?

“- I can’t do anything to help you,” I clasped my hands in my lap so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

“You are Mate to the High Lord of Spring,” Haddin snapped. “We’re only asking you to find him. You don’t have to fuck the male. Just bring him back. Any womb will do, even if we have to pay someone to un-cross their legs for that rabid creature.”

“Maybe he’s dead,” I said quickly, hating the way that long-buried mating bond writhed in pain at my own words.

Daenny rolled his eyes, “If he were dead, I’d know.”

“How?”

“Because then I’d be High Lord and we wouldn’t have a problem. I’ll un-cross my legs for just about anyone.”

My blood froze. Haddin spoke clearly, and with such disgust that… I believed him. But- my understanding was that no one knew who might be heir to a High Lord. Children often were, but-

“Tamlin… is your father?” I whispered. Then, his words from earlier came to me. About the High Lord being unlucky and offspring resulting from the… the act, “You were a Calanmai baby.”

Haddin was warming himself by the fire, but he sketched a lazy bow, “Prince Hadreddin of Hybern, Lord of Spring, at your service.”

I couldn’t move. 

Hybern- he was a Prince of Hybern. Was he related to the- no. He didn’t say he was son of the King of Hybern… He said he was… that Tamlin-

There wasn’t enough air in the world. I felt like I was going to faint. I needed Feyre. I needed Feyre to appear and make this all go away before the thought at the edge of my mind took form.

But my sister never appeared, and the thought took form. Confirmed as Haddin turned his attention back to the fire and ground out, “My whore of a mother tried to destroy Prythian. My pathetic excuse for a father might just end Spring. I’m a bit sick of being associated with failures and psychopaths. Someone in this bloodline might as well be useful.”

Prince Hadreddin of Hybern.

Son of the High Lord of Spring.

And the would-be fae queen Amarantha.

[moodymelanist]

The fandom is so lucky to have you! We appreciate having you here and all that you contribute to it ❤️❤️

1. What brought you into the fandom?

2. What character(s) do you feel the most connected to and why?

3. Out of all of SJM’s books, which one means the most to you and why?

4. Out of all of the SJM couples (fanon, canon, endgame, etc) which one means the most to you and why?

Keep doing you ❤️

aw thank you so much 🥹🩷

I actually got into ao3 around late 2020/early 2021 (I think the first acotar fic I read was Rhys’ POV for acomaf actually lol). But I realized how little modern au there was for nessian… and the rest was history

I feel very connected to Nesta. I’m technically a middle child but I was socialized as the oldest daughter (my older sister is 10 years older than me, for some context) so I heavily relate to a lot of the things she experienced, family-dynamic wise. Personality-wise I think I’m most similar to Gwyn or Cassian but nesta is my girl through and through.

I’ve only read acotar but I’d say probably acowar, but specifically the Nessian scenes. We had so much potential then…

Nessian. I just love them together so much, and seeing what my fellow writers do with them just makes my heart so happy. I love making them fall in love across different lifetimes and universes and even in different bodies (looking at you, genderbent Nessian AUs). I also have a soft spot for Neris but specifically in fanon 😂

[separatist-apologist]

Thank you for tagging me @edgyellie! I wasn't gonna respond because my WIP list is, as always, a shit show. But I could use a little accountability

Ignoring my current ongoing fics, only unpublished I have:

Merman cassian

Demon Feysand

If you want to impress my girl with a vehicle you need a food truck (nessian)

Rivals to lovers canon AU Gwynriel

Snow white Elucien

Evil all along Feysand

What if Rhys died post ACOWAR fessirel?

Dark Gods remix

Rapunzel Feysand

Sleeping beauty nessian

ACOMAF hewn city rewrite

ACOTAR calanmai sex pollen

I'm not tagging anyone but @the-lonelybarricade who I know has been tagged to death because I feel like everyone else has done it. But if not, I'm inviting you to and just say I asked you to!