#they’re the only two ppl who know what it’s like to love tamlin and they’re COPING

[yaralulu]

getting this evil urge to write lucien/rhys. nobody ask just trust me on this one.

[yaralulu]

This was like a mini interview; thank you so much for putting it together!! I really had to think for some of these questions hehe.

1. What are some of your favorite shows/movies?

Some of my favorite shows are: The Vampire Diaries, House MD, Interview with the Vampire,Greys Anatomy, Tell Me Lies, Criminal Minds and Hannibal. Lengthy list LOL.

2.What are your favourite books?

I only started reading books less than a year ago so I haven’t read much and nothing amazing really LOL. So this list is embarrassing to say the least BUT I’m working on it!! I’m a big fan of the “The Hunger Games” books, “The Serpent and the Wings of Night”, and ngl the first acotar book LOL.

3. What about movies?

I’m not huge on movies (more of a show person) but “The Hunger Games” movies have a very special place in my heart. A few of the marvel movies as well, specifically “Spider-man: No Way Home” and “Captain America and The Winter Soldier.”

4. Why is Tamcien your favourite ship over other ACOTAR ships?

Ok this this is something I can ramble about hehe. I absolutely love how complicated their relationship is and how despite everything they’re still trying to make it work. like the odds are completely against them but they refuse to let go of one another. They clearly hold so much love for each other and the amount of loyalty Lucien specifically has towards Tamlin just does something to me. I genuinely view them as two ppl who cannot exist without the other (and there’s a slightly toxic element to this which i thoroughly enjoy. SUE ME). I also love all the history they have together and how that history shows as they interact and when they talk about each other. They simply know the other person like the back of their hand. They need each other.

5. Do you ship Tamlin with other characters? What about Lucien?

I ship these two with half of the damn characters 😭. Tamsand/ Tamris/ Feylin. Elucien/ Luzriel/Lucnes. I’m a multishipper to my coreee.

6. Who are your non-ACOTAR otps?

I had to dig DEEP to remember some of these. Dazai/ Chuuya from BSD, Childe/Zhongli from Genshin Impact, Dabi/Shigaraki from MHA, Stefan/ Elena, Klaus/Caroline, Captain America/ Bucky (omg??? i’m unlocking memories), Levi/Erwin from AOT.

ok i’m done

7. What is a Tamcien premise you never got around to writing but is on your list?

Any scenario in which Tamlin shifts into a female or he shifts Lucien into a female and they have very hot sex 😄.The smut would be outrageously hot like walk with me here.

8. Which of your fics are you most fond or most proud of?

Is it naughty if I say something I’ve yet to post 🫣? bc it’s totally something I’ve yet to post but you’ll see it in two weeks time i swear!!

9. As a writer, what is something that you enjoy when reader other fics?

Good dialogue/banter!! Especially when it comes to characters like Lucien who have that sort of witty personality and comebacks. I love tension, whether it’s sexual or not. I want to be gnawing at my screen when I’m reading. Like fully giggling and kicking my feet. Or screaming and crying.

10. What is your favourite fanfic of all time? If you have many, please share them! For research...

This is my fav topic ever. I’m gonna list out the same ones I did for the tamlinweek post bc they really are my favorites!! Colors in a Dead Garden by fourteentrout (i think about this fic like 7 times a day no joke. cannot recommend it enough). Soap Bubble by SorcerySmithereens. Hedonism by A_ Chaotic_Human. A strange thing happened the night of the High Lord meeting by umthisistheonlyusernamenottaken

I feel like these will show you exactly my taste in fics fr.

11. What is a fanfic that surprised you? Why?

Am i allowed to say something that’s not tamcien or tamlin related bc…Rhysand Is The Most Handsome High Lord... by the_darkestminds takes the cake for sure. No words just read this for yourself.

12. What is your favourite NSFW dynamic? Any favourite kinks?

Everyone look away! I enjoy a clear dom/sub dynamic. Dirty talk is very sexy to me, whether it’s Praise/degradation I don’t have a preference. Bondage and exhibitionism is also very hot lol. Hair pulling, biting, light name calling. Yep.

13. Do you think you know the identity of your secret santa? hihi

GENUINELY NO CLUE. I had my guesses at first but nothing rn. I’m very very curious 🙏

14. Quick, if Tamcien adopted a pet together, what would they name it? Don't think, just name!

muffin (???? terrible name)

15. Do the same thing, but for a Tamcien baby, quick quick!

oliver (??? EVEN WORSE)

16. What about favourite anime? If you didn't name anime OTPs above, share them here too!

Ahh I love animes. Some of my favorites are: My Hero Academia , Given, Bungou Stray Dogs, Attack on Titan, Haikyuu!

17. Do you ever think of Tamlin and Lucien in lingerie?

Not until this very moment omg?? I think that’d be hot and I see the vision.

18. What's your favourite color?

Purple and pale pink!!

19. Do you have a Lucien or a Tamlin fancast?

I really don’t like thinking of them as real ppl in my head, it kinda ruins the experience for me LOL. But sam reid would be my Tamlin fancast but I honestly have never seen anyone who reminds me of Lucien.

20. Do you accept early gifts?

Ofc! I don’t mind!!

21. How willing are you to adventure with me with this gifts?

VERYYY WILLING!! I’m very excited to go through this with you.

hi @yaralulu, i made this questionnaire for u to help me with ur gift!!

What are some of your favourite shows/movies?

What are your favourite books?

What about movies?

Why is Tamcien your favourite ship over other ACOTAR ships?

Do you ship Tamlin with other characters? What about Lucien?

Who are your non-ACOTAR otps?

What is a Tamcien premise you never got around to writing but is on your list?

Which of your fics are you most fond or most proud of?

As a writer, what is something that you enjoy when reader other fics?

What is your favourite fanfic of all time? If you have many, please share them! For research...

What is a fanfic that surprised you? Why?

What is your favourite NSFW dynamic? Any favourite kinks?

Do you think you know the identity of your secret santa? hihi

Quick, if Tamcien adopted a pet together, what would they name it? Don't think, just name!

Do the same thing, but for a Tamcien baby, quick quick!

What about favourite anime? If you didn't name anime OTPs above, share them here too!

Do you ever think of Tamlin or Lucien in lingerie!

What's your favourite color?

Do you have a Lucien or a Tamlin fancast?

Do you accept early gifts?

How willing are you to adventure with me with this gift(s) :3

[havenfable]

YES! This is exactly what I was thinking. I love your analysis. Your Tamlin read is just **chefs kiss** so good. As you’re about to see, I could also talk about this shit forever. It just really caught my attention as a teen, and the wasted potential fills me with passion. I totally want to hear all your SJM rewrite headcanons!!!

Under the cut to preserve ppls dash’s 

Lucien is best boy (and one a few Valid SJM characters)!! Honestly, I am really worried about if Elain/Lucien is endgame for Elain’s book. I think the only reason Lucien has been able to keep his unique, actually interesting characterization over the series is because he’s not a villain who needs to be dunked on (Tamlin) or a ‘’’’mate’’’’ who needs to be perfect and worshipped (Rhys). Like, 

Another something I couldn’t fit into the ask very well is the fact that while Tamlin gets the wild heel turn, Rhys gets an undeserved face turn that diminishes his arc as a character. He’s a total Gary Stu and SJM is in too deep at this point to go back on it know, but there was potential. His introduction in ACOTAR is hella sketchy, the whole Feyre sex slave UTM is just gross, and he almost kills Lucien. It’s hand-waved away as being to protect Velaris, but we never see him struggle with whether that choice was worth it (or even try to make the rest of his huge court — Hewn City, Illyrian Camps — worth living in, which is a whole separate issue but I digress).

SJM seems to love the “character introduced as evil but *suprise* they’re secretly complex”, see Rhys and (disgustingly) Eris. It’s possible to do that! Two of my favorite book series (ASOIAF with Jaime and Stormlight Archive with Elhokar) had me switch from hating to really enjoying them. BUT…they do some key things SJM doesn’t. Those characters have to confront their faults, and the narrative doesn’t immediately switch to gushing about them. Rhys never earns the adoration he gets. He never confronts what he’s done. 

Series, especially epic ones with lots of characters, work really well if there’s key themes connecting the character arcs. Trauma could have been that for ACOTAR. Let Feyre, Lucien, Tamlin, Rhys, and everyone be actually traumatized from UTM. I really love your idea of focusing more on Tamlin and Lucien’s friendship! Having Tamlin and Feyre realize they’re falling into bad patterns with each other and reaching out to find a healthier relationship (Lucien/Rhys) would be really great, and realistic. Not everyone’s first love is the right one. Just because they loved each other enough to break the curse doesn’t mean they’re right for each other long term. 

And there’s so much meat in the Tamlin/Lucien relationship. How does Tamlin feel about all the physical harm come to Lucien both directly (whipping) and indirectly (eye) because of him? Does Lucien feel some sort of guilt for the Spring Court curse? Tamlin is someone who loves too tightly and Lucien is someone who’s never really been treasured and there’s just so much!! there to explore!!

Let Feyre learn to make her own choices have been thrust around as a puppet. Let Rhys confront what he did to protect the Night Court and learn how to be a good Lord. Let Tamlin realize that vulnerability isn’t weakness and that he has to trust the people he loves. Let Lucien have a break!! 

Like, I get that she wanted to subvert the love triangle trope in YA by making one side an abusive relationship but it doesn’t work with the story she wrote. Rhys is the with neon red flags in ACOTAR, not Tam. She’d have to scrap and redo the characterization in ACOTAR if she wants that ‘twist’ to work. 

“If this book was really about giving Feyre a choice, SJm would let her make actual decisions that actually impacted herself and the story” YESSSS! There’s this constant lip service about Feyre having choices and being a girlboss (girlboss, gatekeep, gaslight more like it) but she never is a position to make real choices! She doesn’t really choose to go with Rhys (like you said, there’s an obvious right answer). She doesn’t choose to become High Lady (vs becoming an artist or something else). She never actually chooses between become Fey or dying (I think that would have been a great ending to ACOTAR, feyre stealing the remnants of Amarantha’s power because ‘eff it, she wants to live’). There’s lots of narrative opportunities for choice, by the plot keeps happening at Feyre instead of because of her. I’d really love ACOMAF to let Feyre deal with becoming a Fey and marriage to a High Lord. Does she miss human culture or her human family? Does she actually want to be a High Lady? 

The Rhys/Tamlin 180 in ACOMAF makes me mad! Like there’s wasted potential there, even if Rhys is endgame. The concept of after the happily ever after is actually pretty cool. There’s real potential in looking at how Tamlin and Feyre deal with the trauma of Amarantha. Having two people realized they’re not right together while still respecting each other is a more adult take than “surprise, Tamlin sux now”, and allows for Feyre to actually make real choices and grow. What's your ACOMAF rewrite?

Damn YALL ARE SPOILING ME WITH THE TAMLIN ASKS ☺️☺️ thank youuu for the ask @havenfable

THIS IS AGREAT POINT TOO WAIT WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT ALLOWING FEYRE TO ACTUALLY MAKE REAL DECISIONS !! YOUR BRAIN !! you guys are spectacular eat a cookie you have earned it 

Ok my thoughts are not quite coherent rn so I’ll try to make sense. I’ve tried writing this like 4 times and every time it just doesn’t work so bear with me here thank you I love you ok here we go. 

Ok I’m gonna start by saying that there is something to be said about Feyre as the narrator and her being an “unreliable” narrator of sorts. The story is about her, told from her perspective. I don’t expect her to have objective views of what happens around her. one thing I found interesting was that she said in conversations with people that she knew Tamlin was struggling, but when we would be listening to her internal monologue, when she thought of him it was mostly to blame him for not knowing she was struggling. (or if he did know, he didn't do anything about it) So like, same thing with the whole thing with Rhysand's mom and sister, we don't know what Tamlin thinks or feels about the situation because he doesn't talk about it and Feyre never asks. (But oh DAMN Sarah should not have given me room to speculate.) Like, UTM broke Feyre right, she tells us that much. Why are we not allowed to believe that it destroyed Tamlin too.

Here we are again, just like with Rhysand's family. I don't blame Feyre for literally needing help, and I do blame Tamlin for not helping her, but to a degree. I hated how the whole situation was handled like Tamlin was shit for not trying to help Feyre (even tho he was, just not in the way she needed), but then Feyre literally not lifting a single finger to try to help Tamlin is ok because he's a man and he can just suck it up and take it. ???? No ? That's not how we handle trauma? Like, my homeboy is fighting a losing battle against this shit and he's the one who's gotta fix everything for Feyre?

But like you said, just a tiny little bit of helpful communication would have done wonders. How about a lil, "hey you ok?" ???? LETS TALK ABOUT IT! Let's talk about how we're falling out of love, let's talk about what Tamlin experienced under the mountain, let's talk about what Feyre experienced under the mountain, let's talk about how maybe we were never good for each other and how we move on with our lives from that! POTENTIAL !! LETS HAVE THEM GROW "Surprise! Tamlin sucks now!" bitch how. Literally how. How did this happen. How did we get here. Tell me. I want to know SJm. Stop being a coward and tell me. You know what, I'll do it for you.

Damn this is about to be super duper long I'm so sorry. 

Alrighty guys once again, I love Tamlin with my whole chest, but I do put a hefty chunk of this on him. From what SJm tells us about Tamlin, he is a fearful individual. His responses to fear are either to freeze or to explode. Both extremes hurt people around him. His actions hurt people, and his lack of action hurts people. Also, for as often as he says the word sorry, he doesn't really show any signs of change or improvement. While I understand that yes , changing your behavior is hard, especially if you're not getting help and don't know how, Tamlin still could have tried a little more, pushed just a little harder, and yes, he could have been better.

But Tamlin is scared. He's scared of things outside of his control, he's scared of change, he's scared of people he loves leaving him or getting hurt. I'm willing to bet he's scared of himself, and rightfully so. He lashes out and it only ever hurts people. I can't believe he's blind to it. When he destroys the study, he's clearly afraid he hurt Feyre.

(i think I’m gonna do my acomaf rewrite headcanons in a different post, every time I try to write them here it doesn’t flow oooof lemme know if thats something you want ahahah I could talk about this shit forever) 

And like, being subject to someone else's fear is stifling. I don't blame Feyre for getting the hell out of there.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I know I've said this before: in my opinion, Tamlin has the best depiction of trauma in the whole fucking series. PTSD is a bitch and Tamlin is losing to it. The thing I loathed about acomaf/the beginning of Acowar is how Tamlin isn't given help and then treated like an absolute asshole for it. SJm could have done so much if she had Tamlin learn to ask for help. We can't all just have a Rhysand who knows every thought we have. Sometimes we have to ask for help, as much as we don't want to. That would have done wonders for Tamlin's character arc. And I think that he should have leaned heavily on Lucien for that.

Now look, Lucien deserves a lifetime of free chiropractor visits to relieve the soreness from carrying the entire series solely by himself on his own back. If I'm the one to pay for that for him, so be it. I would do anything for this man.

Lucien deserved so much better than to be bulldozed by the narrative. I refuse to believe that he would let Tamlin use him as a doormat. Lucien deserved to tell Tamlin off on his behavior ok. Lucien deserved a fucking backbone that he had all of acotar and then SJm decided that he was the character who got to suffer for the decisions of every other characters so they didn't have to. Stupid. (At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Rhysand's cum from having sky sex with Feyre fell directly on Luciens face. That's how much SJm likes pummelling him)

Lucien deserves to be strong and tough and emotionally available, especially for Tamlin. I don't think he deserves to be abused by his best friend. I've read fics that make Tamlin like this jackass who's not sad at all that Amarantha forced him to whip his best friend. Are you fucking kidding me. I feel like if Tamlin was going to cling like hell to someone through all of the shit before, during and after UTM, it should be lucien. But no SJm needs us to know Tamlin is a bad guy now. He hurts everyone with no remorse!!! What a villain!!! That was a sin.

Acomaf deserved to be two people talking about how maybe this relationship wasn't going to work out. This book deserved to be Tamlin getting up the courage to as Lucien for help. This book deserved to be Lucien always telling Tamlin that he would be there for him and us getting to watch the two of them overcoming their hardships together. This book deserved to be Feyre choosing her own path, choosing her own family, choosing to live her life as she wanted.

But nah. Rhysand's got a fat cock and uhhh y'all need to like it more than y'all like Tamlin's dick. Also Rhysand is a feminsisist. So suck it.

(If this book was really about giving Feyre a choice, SJm would let her make actual decisions that actually impacted herself and the story instead of just having Rhysand give her two extremes with one of them being obviously the right choice and then tell her whatever she wanted to do was her choice. Feminism.)

Did any of that make any sense. Any at all. No? Yeah I didn't think so anyways I've spent like a week on this I'm tired and I wanted to get it out there. Acomaf was a mess but at least it wasn't Acowar hahahahaha