#where are the tamlin girlies

[geniemillies]

i miss tamlin posts like they're a lover lost at war 😔

[arson-09]

Tamlin is actually such an underrated character in acotar. Because of feyres very biased narrative she forces readers to ignore the complexity of his character and man. its sad

Tamlin is a character who is genuinely GOOD at his core. He changed so much of the spring court for good, eliminating slavery within the spring lands and mortals having more protection. Hes a morally good character that made a few mistakes and is boiled down to just those mistakes. Locking feyre in the house and the magical/emotional blow up, which are both pretty decent fuck ups (i dont think siding with hybern fully counts as he was a double agent all along and tamlin was decently justified in thinking feyre was being kept against her will. lets be fr here) and even after he’s extremely fucked over by the nightcourt, his lands and court burned to shit, he still saves rhysand. Saves rhysand and tells feyre to be happy, even when he has every reason to NOT do that!

Hes a character that clearly holds himself to a higher standard. throughout acotar he puts lucien and feyres safety above his own, even sending feyre away when she was the only one who could save him. Even though what he did to her wasnt great its not completely irredeemable, rhysand did much worse things to feyre and other people but hes living his best life while Tamlin seems to find himself unworthy of being a person (acosf wheres hes been in beast form for roughly over two years) hes a perfectionist who now doesnt even think he deserves anyone because he accidentally hurt the people he loves most.

Sjm accidentally created a beautifully rich and morally righteous character who is so extremely fucked by the narrative. Which doesnt even work half the time as sjm cant seemingly commit to making him a full villain (seemingly by accident again she gave him quite a reasonable explanation to everything he did ‘wrong’ but still chooses to make him a punching bag)

If Tamlin was genuinely a morally evil character he wouldnt have NEARLY the amount of fans as he does. Hes a character that requires the minimum amount of media literacy and comprehension to understand and i LOVE him.

[shittyelfwriter]

so I just read the entire acotar series (yes all 5 books) and idk what it is, but when I’m reading the first three, I fuck heavily with feyre and rhysand—but the moment book 4 and 5 hit I immediately was like “these mfs are goddamn insufferable” and I don’t know why

I’m going to read them all again but like. what changed honestly? I can’t tell if it’s because from their perspective, they’re trying so hard not to lose each other and then from the outside they just seem obnoxiously obsessed, but damn. I miss the feeling I had reading books 2-3 especially where the stakes were high and I was rooting for them

[astrababyy]

i really like this. i feel like feyre and tamlin had the kind of relationship pre-acomaf that sort of dug both of them out of a hole they’d been in. and both of them just expecting that it would be the same with their relationship in acomaf, where their love for each other would be enough to heal their wounds, is a really natural progression of their relationship.

tamlin wouldn’t be retconned to hell, but if he internalized a feeling of guilt over all the deaths in the spring court as well as feyre’s own, it’d make sense that he’d feel like he needed to overcompensate after being so lax and free in the first book. this would correlate really well with feyre, who maybe is avoiding the responsibility that comes with what she did utm and secretly questions whether it was all worth it. so she pins the blame of it on other people instead of herself so she doesn’t have to accept her own reality.

i also like the idea of feyre’s dark side in acotar. i feel like that being emphasized even more in acomaf, where she has just been turned fae and feels like she’s succumbing to the faeries’ innately darker nature, would be interesting in tandem with their relationship.

sometimes i think about how the acotar books could've been a great way to show that "love doesn't heal trauma" rather than whatever points sjm was trying to make about abusive relationships and sa. instead of tamlin being abusive, she could've written that feylin's individual traumas kept them from reaching out to each other. or that feyre felt suffocated by the perfect, idyllic and alive spring court when she felt the opposite on the inside. or that tamlin felt overwhelmed by the sudden influx of responsibilities as he's trying to rid himself of the nightmares from utm. they try to make it work. they try to replicate some of the dates and dances from book #1 but there's an almost tangible shadow over their relationship now. and maybe one day feyre sees a memorial for andras or a likeness to one of the high fae living in the spring court to one of the high fae she killed utm, and has a panic attack. and this serves as the catalyst that severs feylin's relationship and reveals that yes, their love broke a curse, their love saved prythian but it couldn't (and shouldn't) heal them.

[lady-embers]

I think a lot of people continuously overlook the GOOD Nesta did during the series and only focus on her "hateful attitude". Sometimes actions show more than words and Nesta is an action girly.

ACOTAR- She tried to protect Feyre in the market. She went after Feyre when Tamlin took her. She essentially told Feyre to go and save Tamlin and not to worry about them. She was ready to marry someone to help have one less mouth to feed for Feyre. She chopped wood for two days in a row.

Also, I think this quote is important from book 1 from Feyre about Nesta:

"I looked at my sister, really looked at her, at this woman who couldn't stomach the sycophants who now surrounded her, who had never spent a day in the forest but had gone into wolf territory.... Who had shrouded the loss of our mother, then our downfall, in icy rage and bitterness, because the anger had been a lifeline, the cruelty a release. But she HAD cared - beneath it, she had cared, and perhaps, loved more fiercely than I could comprehend, more deeply and loyally."

ACOMAF - She wasn't in here much but both her and Elain opened their home to Feyre and the IC for the war purposes when they were taught their whole life to be scared/fear the fae and ended up turned against their will for their efforts which is incredibly traumatic.

ACOWAR - Nesta helped with the Queens and the High Lords. She helped Feyre and the whole Raven attack thingy. She participated in the war and almost died trying to save Cassian and then beheaded Hybern. She then helped tend to the wounded and dieing. She really had no time to sort through her own trauma during this time either since she was looking after comatose Elain and in a place where she didn't want to be.

ACOFAS - We see her drowning in her trauma. She can't even take baths (which Feyre had said in ACOWAR she'd help with as she never thought about how the Cauldron affected them). She is invited to party with rent money held over her head (despite the fact she had a job as human emissary during the war so where is the money promised to her from accepting that job from Rhysand?) While there, Feyre remarks how uncomfortable Nesta is but doesn't both to wonder why, and come to find out fire bothers her because it reminds her of her father's neck snapping RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. Cassian runs after her and even though she wants to be alone she's hounded and is seen as the bad guy for not taking his gift. A gift he proceeds to throw away, like a child, into the water because she didn't take it...At this point she just wanted to be left alone and they kept hounding her and not respecting boundaries she was putting up.

ACOSF - She is still drowning..she is forced into the HOW (feyre said she'd be tied and thrown there essentially so it wasn't really a choice) where she has to walk down 10,000 steps (which she physically/mentally/emotionally could not do so she was essentially a prisoner since no help was offered by feyre and Amren own words and let's not forget those same steps were used as punishment for Rhysand and the bat boys)..she starts training though and finds her own found family in Gwyn and Emerie. She helps the IC multiple times with things in ACOSF to and even saves Rhysand, Feyre, and Nyx very lives. She even says sorry to Feyre and Feyre doesn't hold anything against Nesta, not even telling her about the babies wings because at least she told her. We also find out she tried to write letters to others to help during their poverty times and her boots weren't as new as Feyre made then out to be showing Feyre as an unreliable/biased narrator.

All in all, I wouldn't say Nesta is an absolutely terrible horrible nasty person that is beyond redemption or forgiveness.

She is a woman who has been traumatized from a very young age starting with her mother/grandmother to being turned fae to PTSD from war/her father and doesn't know how to cope so she lashes out (which is a VALID TRAUMATIC RESPONSE) to push others away because she HATES herself more than anyone else does. She knew lashing out was wrong but didn't have the tools/upbringing to know healthy responses. It's really not until Gwyn and Emerie came along and showed her UNCONDITIONAL LOVE that she began to change and learn better and new healthy coping mechanism to let go of the bad ones.

Now, I'm not saying her trauma response was good or acceptable or excusable, but I do think she deserves some grace and compassion given all she's been through herself. Trauma is not a comparison game after all and we all experience and cope differently. Just like these characters.

Artist is Crisol Crowling or crisolcrowling on IG!

[theegemini92]

I am here for all my Nesta girlies stands.. however where were all of you when the same thing was and is still is being done to Tamlin? 😂 like it had to take her book for yall to see how fuckd up and twisted feyre and Rhys are or even the IC hell her own sister Elain throwing her under the bus…

[thelov3lybookworm]

Prone to Infatuation

day 1: human tamlin

modern!au

Summary: Feyre won't mind

•○●⛦●○•

A/n: happy @tamlinweek to all my fellow girlies who love tamtam!!! heres my lil fic for the first day of the week ❣️

enjoyy!!

Coming over to visit her friend's ex had probably not been a great idea. It had been, obviously, a hard decision to make.

But did she regret it?

Absolutely not.

He had been her friend too once, and he did not deserve to be thrown aside after the messy break up.

Sure, what he did was not the best thing to do, but it came from a place of good reasoning. He should not have locked Feyre up in their shared apartment, but Y/n could not find it in herself to blame his actions when she knew of his past.

He had never had parents that loved each other, and so the only way he saw his father caring for his mother was when he would lock her up in the house. Tamlin was young, and did not understand that it was not love that he witnessed, but being a psychology student, Y/n could understand what he went through.

He could have definitely handled it better, but if someone just sat him down to tell him where he went wrong, he could have become better.

She was not erasing his mistakes or saying that he did not make them, but she understood his reasns behind them. He had made mistakes, sure, but so had Feyre when instead of just talking to him, she just up and left and moved on while Tamlin was left with no one.

So today, Y/n had decided to pay him a visit after hearing from Lucien that he seemed to be getting better.

With a deep breath, Y/n lifted her hand to knock on the door to his apartment. A few moments filled with the sounds of shuffling and one loud crash later, his form filled the doorway.

He looked... unkempt. His hair sticking all out in all the wrong places, dark circles under his eyes... He just looked so miserable.

"Um, hi."

He blinked at Y/n, seeming not to hear her words. But then he straightened, the shock fading from his eyes as he gave her an uncertain smile.

"Hey Y/n. What brings you here?"

"What, I can't visit my friends without reason?"

He blinked, leaning back. "Uhh. You can of course. I'm sorry-"

Instantly, guilt spread through Y/n. She reached out to touch the back of his hand, staring up at him. "Tam, I was joking."

"Oh. Right, sorry-"

With a sigh, Y/n wrapped her arms around his torso- shirtless torso-letting her head rest on his chest for a moment until he hugged her back.

He let her go after a moment, the sadness, the loneliness that shone on his face making Y/n want to commit atrocities.

As he led her in, she studied her surroundings, swallowing.

The place was meticulously clean looking, except for a few pieces of clothing here and there.

The house looked nothing like it had the last time she visited with Mor. That was back when Feyre had called them up to break her out of the house.

Everything had been lying on the ground back then, as if thrown around in a fit of rage. Y/n had been disgusted, but now all she felt was sympathy.

"So... how have you been."

Tamlin glanced back at her as he snatched his t-shirt form the back of the couch. "Better."

Y/n smiled, nodding.

"That's great."

He studied her for a moment, his eyes skeptical. But then he settled down on one of the chairs at the kitchen island, sighing. "It really is. You were right. Therapy does help."

That statement surprised Y/n. She could not remember talking to him about therapy except for that one time she had mentioned about it in passing, telling him something about her chosen subject of study.

"You are going to therapy?"

He offered her a small smile. "Yes. And it's been helping a lot."

Y/n placed her bag on the counter as she mirrored his position and smiled, genuine and happy. "I'm so glad to hear that, Tam. How is it going?"

"The therapist reminds me a lot of my mother, with the way she looks, the way she yells at me sometimes," He laughed. "I'm becoming better, that much I know. I've come to terms with the fact that not everyone stays forever, and that it is okay to let go of people. It took me over two months to get over my fear of losing people, but its working."

Her eyes prickled at the genuine joy he radiated, the way he seemed more open and vulnerable and happy about it too.

"That's amazing. You atleast have your friends, even though she left. You'll always have us."

He paused for a moment. "Does she know you're visiting?"

Y/n sighed. "She is not my mother, she does not need to know about my whereabouts."

"So she doesn't."

Her silence was answer enough for him.

"You should lave then. I don't want you to jeopardise your friendship just because you came to see her abusive ex."

Tears gathered in Y/n's eyes at his thoughtfulness.

"She won't mind."

I hope she doesn't.

If she got mad about Y/n just visiting Tamlin, Y/n couldn't fathom what Feyre would do if she found out about Y/n's little crush on Tamlin.

"Are you hungry?"

A few hours, a bottle of wine and two large pizzas later, Y/n found herself spread on Tamlin's couch like a blanket as she giggled at something a drunk Tamlin mumbled from where he sat on the ground, leaning back against the couch next to her head.

Silence settled between them again, the awkwardness from a few hours ago nowhere in sight.

"I should get going."

Tamlin glanced at the clock on the opposite wall at that, nodding solemnly. "It's getting late."

Y/n rolled over, reaching up to twirl a strand of his hair around her fingers. "I don't want to though."

He turned his head to look at her, his face flushed from the wine. "Stay then."

Y/n smirked. "Already trying to get me into your bed huh. At least take me out on a date first."

He laughed, head thrown back. "Would this not be considered a date?" He said, gesturing to the half empty eaten pizza on the low coffee table.

"No."

He grinned, leaning his head closer to hers. "Fine then. Are you free tomorrow? Let me take you out on this date you want."

Suddenly, Y/n felt much more sober. "What?"

He huffed. "You basically have I like Tamlin written on your forehead in red paint, love. You can't expect me to not notice."

Y/n shot up, wrapping her arms around herself to do what, she didn't know. "I- I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. We're humans. We tend to fall in love and are prone to infatuation."

Y/n gave him an unamused look as she stood, gathering her things and heading towards the door.

She could hear him following her, but she ignored the urge to just die and reached for her coat hanging next to the door.

Tried to.

His hand caught hers before she could grab the material, tugging her back into his hard chest.

"I am not kidding Y/n. I mean it. Let me take you out for dinner. And not just because I want you in my bed."

She turned her head to look at him, failing to hide her blush due to his proximity.

"What..."

He gave her a dazzling smile. "Let me take you out on a date. Let me court you, the way you read about in your books."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Really."

"Okay..."

"So I'll pick you up at seven?"

Acotar Taglist: @bubybubsters @eos-princess @nightless @harrystylesfan2686 @cassie6392 @kennedy-brooke @tele86 @miluiel1 @hnyclover @minnieoo @sidrapotter @piceous21 @mybestfriendmademe @saltedcoffeescotch @eve175 @starsinyourseyes @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @cumuluscranium @byyalady @lilah-asteria @girlswithimagination @gardenofrunar

[browneyedartist01]

My thoughts during the final hour of acomaf:

(Bare in mind that I notched up the speed to 1.5 then 1.75, and these thoughts are not in order)

-"You don't need proof that it works, I'm proof that it works-"

Weren't you made by high lords?

-"I will destroy your court."

And I will hate you. More so than I already do

-"He held out his hand like I was some pet."

"Come home."

My thoughts:

"Come home with me."

"Who are you?"

"The man whose gonna marry you, I'm Orpheus."

"Who am I?"

"Eurydice, *laughs* the girl who makes me wanna sing, the women I'm marrying."

-Why dose the evil man sounds like a radio announcer?

-Lucian really setting the bar higher already in how to care for your mate, as expected. (Go little Rock star)

-He broke through the bounds that a high lord couldn't break through just to go to her?!?!

-And he gave her his coat to cover her??

-"There were different kinds of torture I realized, there was ones I went through, what Rhys went through and then this."

Yeah, now you know how Tamlin felt utm.

- Did Nesta just give the evil king the middle finger? Ew, sarah cringe stop it.

-Cassian just keep dying sweetie, don't touch Nesta.

-Nesta be nice to your future brother in law.

- Freye unlocked a new power, somehow.

-Cheesy, this is all so cheesy.

- "his green eyes met mine, the sorrow and tenderness in them was the most hideous thing I've ever seen."

Wow, ok...

-Tamlin acting like Ryhsand though with Tamlin it's justified/understandable

- *me counting down the final 22 minutes while freye is dying*

-"I nerely gagged on his scent."

Freye darling, I get your upset about his deal with evil king. But he literally tried to save your sisters, stop being so dramatic.

- "my family."

It's been 3 months girly.

- "Tamlin ignored Lucian, so I did too."

Sums up Freye and Lucain's friendship

-Of course all the queens' want is eternal youth,

- Lucian naturally being the smartest one in the room.

-Noooo, not Ryhsand pov. 😭 this better not be the last 17 minutes.

-Holy crap, I just realized how similar this ending is to season 2 of lore olympus ending.

-Don't worry, the bat boys plot armor is thick. Sarah loves you monsters too much.

-Mor don't rip out the arrow it will only make it worse.

-Ryhsand please think, do you really think Tamlin would actually partner with evil king? He didn't even trust evil fae women when she first appeared, what makes you think he would actually help him beyond getting freye back?

-"she is my mate, my wife, the high lady of the night court."

BANG, CRASH A LIGHTING BLAST! (no joke there was thunder after he said this in the dramatized version)

I have 2 thoughts on this one:

1. There was a fan theory during the court trial in lore olympus (persephone was on trail for mass murder, long story) where hades and persephone got married before the trail started because at one point he called her his wife. This wasn't the case because she was 20 and he was in his 2000 (aka 40's) Idk if Rachel was a fan of acotar and wanted to steal from it (since acomaf was released in 2016 and the trial was released in 2020) but because people guessed it she dropped it. Idk that's just a my own theory.

2. How can she be the high lady when the mother is the one to give out titles? Do you realize what you just start Ryhsand? This could lead to more war against the more religious courts, this could lead to the end of the night court if the mother finds out... oh wait, this is acotar. Not real high fantasy, there's no real religious world building.

-"I've forgotten how quiet it was here, how small, how empty"

You do this every time freye, anytime your some where "better" you always just stick your noise up at your old home.

-Freye acting high and mighty towards Tamlin as if she wouldn't had praised Ryhsand for doing the same thing.

- Lucian, you are truly the best character.

-"My sister mate, the mother did indeed seem to have a sense of humor."

What do you mean? He would be a great mate. But then again you're suffering because of it...which makes it so much better.

- "as if he could do that to anyone."

But- but he did freye. And tbh I think he would have done worse to you if he deemed it necessary.

-Freye is really giving evil queen vibes. I wish I could enjoy it, but I know sarah is going to make her the "hero"

And that's it, Thank Saints.

[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!!

[shadowqueenjude]

ACOTAR ASK GAME

Tagged by @sonics-atelier and @crazy-ache and @hieragalbatorixdottir

Who's your favourite ACOTAR character?

Lucien Vanserra basically since the moment he stepped on page

Who's your least favourite character?

Rhysand.

Say something nice about your least favourite character.

Uhhhhh, he makes a good power bottom for Tamlin?

Who's your favourite High Lord? (If you picked one for your fav character, then who's your second fav!)

Damn, this is tough. Tamlin and Tarquin are super close for me, and I like Beron for his villain potential and Kallias because he’s a simp for his wife…I’ll go with Tamlin though.

Favorite minor character?

Not sure what qualifies as a minor character! Does Eris count? If so, definitely him. What about Gwyn and Emerie? Or are they also too important? If we’re talking truly “minor” character in terms of screen time, then Jurian for sure.

Favorite ship?

Elucien obviously

Favorite court?

AUTUMN COURT. There’s so much potential for an in-depth plot there, and the intrigue, the Vanserras, the aesthetic, that FIREEEEE…

Make up a brand new court RIGHT NOW, NO PREP JUST VIBES.

A Court of the dead! A court where witches and seers and all kinds thrive and interact with the living dead. The High Lord/Lady of that court also rules over the Underworld, which you can reach by descending a super long staircase behind the throne. Weather? Think San Francisco. Hella foggy and misty. High Lord/Lady’s power? Raising the dead. Silver fire. Like Nesta.

What relationship would you have wanted to see more of in the books?

The relationship between the Archeron sisters. Everyone and their mothers interfered in their relationship instead of letting them be girls and figure it out on their own which I believe contributes to how weird their relationship is rn.

What’s your unpopular opinion?

Basically all my takes on the bat boys…

What is your favorite headcanon?

I have two: One that Elain has healing and earth magic, and two that Eris is a pianist.

If you were swept away to Prythian, what's ONE thing you would want to do?

Jump into the Cauldron.

Immerse myself in the culture! I’m trying aaallll the food, and the wine, and convincing one of the High Fae to give me faerie sight for a sec so that I can see everything as it truly is, maybe jumping into the starlight pool…😍

If you could have ONE faerie ability seen in the books, which would it be?

Shapeshifting is SUCH a broken ability, like??? Imagine being able to turn into whatever you want??? Don’t wanna be seen? Shapeshift into a mouse. Wanna go places? Fly by bird, baby. Wanna check if your spouse is cheating on you? Shapeshift into their suspected lover, or hey, become a fly on their wall. Your natural form feels ugly to you? Just make yourself hotter! You can experiment with genders and sexualities, scare people by shapeshifting into a dragon or some shit, like??? Where’s the drawback? It’s sooo cool and it’s not explored enough. As much of a Vanserra girlie I am, I NEED those shapeshifting abilities.

Tagging: @valkyriepegusus @ennawrite @positivelyruined @rin-u-pos @sunbrightheart @tilseptemberends @decadentpostnacho @yoddhasblog

[acourtofthought]

Hello!

First, thank you so much for your posts. They give me so much comfort.

I'm a huge Elucien girlie. I've loved them since Acomaf and I have been hoping the next book will be Elucien. I think their personalities and similar trauma fit so well together. But i just reread all Acotar books over the summer, and just finished Hofas and now I'm so worried that sjm will make Elucien's mating bond wrong somehow. I wonder if you can give your thoights on this?

in Acomaf, Feyre questioned mating bonds when she was watching Az and Elain. We already knew some mating bonds are not good (like Rhys or Tamlins parents) so she didn't need to include that info or am i missing something? And then in Acosf bonus Az also questioned the Cauldron. I am so worried because sjm has questioned mating bonds in reference to Elucien twice. Why would she do that? Also there's the times interview where she talked about it. .And then she made Az be there in Hofas to learn daglan tampered the Cauldron. Spepcifically after she made him confront Rhys and say "you can't order me to do that" about staying away from Elain. I was so disappointed in Acosf and Acofas becuase of how sjm made Elain completely ignore Lucien. I know sjm is a fated mates author so i shouldn't worry, but I am worried sjm is making Elain's story about her mating bond being wrong because of all this. I used to be sure this was a red herring, but after the Acosf bonus and Hofas I am really starting to be worried because its so much about the theme of their bond being wrong and i'm getting worried.

Sorry for such a long message. I would really love your thoughts.

Thank you for sending me a message!!!

To address that not all bonds are a good fit, that's valid. But I think what's often overlooked is that there's no way to know if a mating bond is a poor fit if someone refuses to get to know their mate. They can choose to ignore them forever simply to prove a point but it can't be proven whether they'd be right for each other unless they take the chance to find out.

The only reason Rhys and Tamlin knew their parents bonds to be a poor fit is because their mothers ended up in a relationship with their mates, had a family with their mates. And therefore were able to see the negative attributes of their mates.

To assume Elain and Lucien would be a poor fit without Elain giving Lucien an actual chance wouldn't be a fair. Especially when you consider that Lucien is NOTHING like Rhys's father or Tamlin's father.

As far as Az questioning the Cauldron....the Cauldron is the mother in essence, something confirmed in HOFAS.

"And she was not a goddess, but a force that governed worlds. A cauldron of life, brimming with the language of creation."

The Cauldron was used for evil things during the reign of the Asteri but the Asteri no longer wield the Cauldron. Just like the Cauldron was used for evil when Hybern got his hands on it but we've got no reason to believe it would now create only evil if used by someone good. As we were told in ACOTAR, when the Cauldron is held by female hands, it is the creator of all things. It's pretty clear that Lucien knew Elain was his mate before she was turned because he was the one who tried to step toward her therefore it's farfetched to claim Elain being put into the Cauldron is what created their bond in that exact moment. Could we not say the same about Nessian's since their bond didn't snap until after Nesta was also turned? I think it's pretty clear that the mother, when creating all life, set into motion who was going to be mates with who in the same way that Rowan's mating bond to Aelin was determined prior to her birth.

There is no proof that tampering with the Cauldron effected mating bonds. If that was the case then every single bond in every world will prove false. It's pretty out there to believe that only Elain and Lucien's bond which wouldn't be revealed for a thousand years is the only one to suffer.

Az questioning the Cauldron is him questioning the language of creation itself. Which just makes him look like a silly young man in comparison to the giver of life, the language of creation. He's 500 something years and a bitter man wanting something he didn't get the way his brothers did yet somehow his temper tantrum over what he didn't get should somehow change FATE??? Fate doesn't care about Az's jealousy, I hate to say it but it's true. Fate / the Mother cares about the events she set into motion (via the Cauldron) when she created everything. Az is no more special to "the Mother" than Lucien is, than Rhys is, than Cassian and the thousands of others she granted bonds to.

I think the questioning of mating bonds is to keep some in suspense. I'm not sure how many Fated Mates books you've read but I'd say 99.999% of them do end up together, regardless of how long it takes. The second Elucien's bond snapped is the second all Fated Mates fans went "they're endgame!" But in order to keep things a bit more interesting, Sarah has created more anticipation and suspense with all the dialogue surrounding their bond.

As far as the whole "why not make them mates?" argument. Sarah does not often write something like that about two characters only to have that exact thing happen. She often presents information which she later puts a twist on. Sort of like the Suriel telling Feyre to stay with the High Lord, where we all assumed it meant Tamlin since they were just talking about Tamlin when it actually meant Rhys. Or the prophecy of Ruhn where some assumed it meant Ruhn would die only for Sarah to later reveal that the prophecy meant he would kill his father and pass the mantel onto Bryce.

Feyre isn't in the best state at this point, especially in regards to Lucien and the fact that she feels the need to ask Rhys whether Lucien (her friend) and Elain (her sister) are a good fit kind of proves she doesn't know what she's talking about.

Also, that was all presented to us on page 257.

We later find out that Rhys, Feyre's mate, tore apart the "Ravens" with his bare hands on page 328. Rhys could have simply misted them but instead he felt the need to get more physical over the attempted assault on his mate.

On page 453, we're later presented with this:

Helion didn't break my stare. "I tore the beasts apart with my bare hands."

Feyre follows this up by saying, "Why?" He could have ended it a thousand other ways. Easier ways. Cleaner ways.

In this scene we also find out that the LoA and Helion had an affair, resulting in Lucien. That regardless of their love she chose to stay with Beron and her children, that her family pretty much forced her to marry him in the first place despite her possible romance with Helion when she was young. And we later see that maybe, just maybe Helion has never gotten over her. Where Feyre thinks he may be masking his own emotions with the sex he has.

So the order of progression is Rhys and Feyre talking about poorly matched bonds with his parents as an example. But we know Lucien is nothing like his father while Elain does sound a bit like his mother. Then we have Rhys mention how even if a bond is rejected, there will ALWAYS be a tug, that you will never not feel drawn to that person. That's followed up by a mate using his hands to tear apart someone who wronged his mate with that followed by another male who used his hands to tear apart someone who hurt a female he shared an affair with and who it seems there is some still yet unresolved business between them.

Then in SF we're given hints of a possible mating bond between Eris and Mor which, if it does exist, we know she would reject because of her preference for women.

I'd be willing to put money on the whole conversation surrounding Elain's bond with Lucien has absolutely nothing to do with them and everything to do with the bond the LoA and Helion still feel to one another, the possible reason why Mor and Eris are still so odd around one another hundreds of years later.

As far as Elain ignoring Lucien, this was Nesta and Cassian before their book:

Nesta had made it clear enough she had no interest in Cassian - not even being in the same room as him.

And that continued on for nearly a year between the events of ACOFAS and ACOSF. So Elain ignoring Lucien? I'd say they're right on schedule to get their HEA in the next book.

[goddessofwisdom18]

your favorite character being largely disliked by both the stans and the antis is actually so devastating. where am i supposed to go

there are three main opinions about mor in this fandom:

1. she’s fine bc she’s feyre’s bestie but you don’t really care about her personally (probably bc she’s queer because the stan girlies used to LOVE mor when moriel was semi-canon. i remember. i was there)

2. she’s fine but annoying bc she ~lead azriel on~ (main opinion on the acotar subreddit). never mind that if this was true, it would be as a result of a retcon, because again, pre acowar, moriel was going to be canon. sarah made mor sapphic because we were asking for more lgbt characters. (again. i was there.) and besides, i frankly don't think it is true, because azriel is the fucking spymaster with a million chances of knowledge at his fingertips and mor spent 80% of her time at a gay bar so idk how he couldn't have fucking known?

3. or she’s the fucking worst because she was. idk. mean to nesta. you know who else was mean??? and people love that about her because it's a result of trauma, it makes her flawed and relatable? literally nesta T_T this is not anti nesta i just don’t get it.

4. she's the fucking worst because she… supposedly lied about eris? ?? i'm not even going to begin to unpack this. why y'all IMMEDIATELY take the man's side and think what he's saying is bible… i don't fucking know. learn to decenter men in your life my friend. sometimes women ARE telling the truth even if they're basic or pick mes or whatever.

mor’s traumatized as hell and definitely has as much to back up her occasional cattiness as nesta had to back up her literal life long bullying. but few people will give her a feminist reading. few people will analyze how sarah wrote her story or what that means. few people will even give her credit as a real villain. she’s just an annoying pick-me bitch and that’s the end of it.

think about the lack of grace rhysand gives nesta. think about what that might mean for mor, to whom rhys (and his friends) was a sort of savior, because her life in the hewn city was that bad that somehow dealing with rhysand is better. that was who she grew up with; that was what she was taught to see as good because at least it wasn’t keir.

not to mention that her life is shaped around her survival via her desirability to males. ESPECIALLY as a sapphic woman can you imagine what that would do to her psyche?

but no. no fan posts about her. no headcanons. nothing nada. just me and the mor week posts and the occasional obligatory stan reference bc she's part of the main cast.

i understand being annoyed bc of the double standard in canon between her and nesta's heavy drinking, but even then i see posts all the time about "i would love rhys if it weren't for the narrative's worship of him!" and none for mor because she's just a ghost. she's nothing to anybody. despite being A MAIN CHARACTER!

not to mention but like. generally positioning yourself perpetually in opposition to the paradigm rather than just having values whether they're popular or not is not a great way to go about things. i completely understand liking eris regardless of what he's done - i am a tamlin stan despite the fact that he was very well abusive in acomaf - but the fact that there are antis out there who are so convinced mor is lying, or who want sarah to write that storyline, is so digusting to me. women in groups you don't like, political sides you don't like, women you think are annoying - they still deserved to be believed. don't give into respectability politics. come on now.

[starsreminisce]

Whats your ship? gwynriel/elucien 🥰

When was the moment you shipped them?

What are your top 3 reasons why you ship them?

What is one thing you'd love to see in their book?

Whats your ship? gwynriel/elucien 🥰

Both but Elucien is the password/lockscreen pet.

When was the moment you shipped them?

When Lucien broke through his chains but I already felt a shippy sense tingling with the line "That is enough."

Here's the thing: he broke through the King of Hybern's spell. Two of the most powerful High Lords were incapacitated and unable to do anything, but Lucien was so emotional about seeing Elain in distress that he achieved what the other two High Lords couldn't.

Lucien knows just how powerful High Lords are. He's spent his entire life seeing that they have the final say. But for Elain, he became powerful enough to overcome that barrier.

What are your top 3 reasons why you ship them?

Lucien is clearly devoted to Elain. The line about her being the most beautiful female he has ever seen reflects his deep feelings and his guilt over being wrong about Jesminda. Even after accepting that Elain loves Graysen, Lucien continues to do things for her without expecting anything in return. SJM highlighted this when Lucien asked Feyre if Elain needed time to accept "being shackled" to him, indicating that even he feels she deserves better.

Elain is inexplicably drawn to Lucien, a feeling she acknowledges but struggles to understand. This is evident in her actions—waiting at the library, her half-steps, and peering at him. We know there is something more between them because the scent of their mating bond was strong enough to make an opp want to leave and then later prompting Rhys to intervene. Even in a room full of people where she convinced everyone she was fine, she had to hide her true feelings from Lucien, who would recognize something was amiss. Elain has kept her mating bond for years, and if there’s one thing I know about SJM's FMCs, it's that if she’s ignoring you, it means she isn’t done with you yet.

I’m a huge anime girlie, more so shonen over shojo, and I love the Red String of Fate and Soulmates tropes. They remind me of my favorite ships: Tohru and Kyo from Fruits Basket, Hinata and Naruto from Naruto, Kaguya and Shirogane from Kaguya: Love is War, and Nene and Hanako from Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun. The FMCs tend to be on the quieter and softer side with a MMC who are unrealized underdogs. Bonus: my fave movie is Kimi no Na Wa (Your Name) and Fate can play such a huge part with the romance quietly developing in the background.

What is one thing you'd love to see in their book?

Two things lol

First, I would love their book to play out like a music video for the entire Rep album.

Second, I want Lucien to stand up for Elain in a grand way. He has a habit of defying people in positions of power: his father, Amarantha, the King of Hybern, Tamlin, and Rhys. I would love it if, when Elain has a vision that is unclear and goes against what the Inner Circle says, Lucien trusts her and bears the brunt of the punishment for her.

Essentially, he feels like he redeems himself when he failed Jesminda against his father and Feyre against Tamlin, with Elain against whoever—Koschei, Rhys, or Beron (again).

Thanks for asking!

[feyres-divorce-lawyer]

hear me out, hear me out, feylin mulan au. IT WORKS!

note: mama archeron is still alive and the family isn't dirt poor.

papa archeron is called to war again but he became disabled fighting in the last war, and he'll most definitely die on the battlefield this time. feyre doesn't want him to go cuz like that's her dad (and for a more selfish reason, he's the only one that's been stopping her mother from marrying her off to lord rhysand because he's rich af) something something, feyre takes her dad's conscription papers and armor, the family horse, oh no nesta, elain what are you doing here. nesta helps cuz she knows she can't stop feyre, elains helps feyre cut her hair. they send her off, don't die ok. feyre gets to the military base, where we meet general tamlin, (with long hair and now feyre's wishing she didn't cut hers off but it would've probably made her look more feminine anyway) who has been put in charge of the new trainees to test his loyalties cuz his father ended up betraying their side. so he's training them really hard to prove himself, and feyre's singled out because she's significantly physically weaker than everyone else. something something, we get to the iconic climbing scene and she's the first to reach the top and take the arrow. something something, things are going great but oh no, the enemy has caught up with them, boom avalanche, oh no tamlin, he's fallen off the cliff, yay fyere saved him, but oh no feyre's injured and gasp she's a GIRL? tamlin's like hella mad cuz this reflects badly on him (also secretly sad cuz my boy was feeling feelings, there's homosexuality implied in the og movie cuz shang had feelings for mulan when he thought she was a boy sooooo) feyre's kicked out and she's trudging along the way back home when wait a minute, is that... tamlin's dad? oh no they all didn't die in the avalanche and now they're gonna kill the emperor. let's go horsie. something something, feyre makes it to the capital city (give name later), and damn it tamlin would you just listen, your dad is back. look up! oh no it's tamlin's dad and he's gonna to kill the emperor. ha! bet you wished you listened to feyre now, don't you. fight, fight! something something, face off between tam's dad and feyre

tam's dad: IT'S YOU! YOU'RE A GIRL! i'm more mad that you're a girl in the army than i am that you almost killed me because i'm a total misogynist. i'm gonna kill you now

feyre: you're such a shitty dad, i can't believe you would betray such an amazing, beautiful, gorgeous man, who i totally don't have any feelings for, like that

um feyre aren't you supposed to be fighting this dude cuz he's gonna kill the emperor, priorities girlie!

something something, cool fan move, kick, FIREWORKS! (it seems now would be the time to say that mushu still exists in this au) ahhh tam's dad is on fire. yay the emperor has been saved! all hail feyre archeron, savior of prythian, whoooo!

cut scene

*back at the archeron family house*

mama archeron's like totally mad, cuz feyre how could you mess up her plans to become richer by pawning off her daughter to that total stranger. tamlin arrives with a friend (hi lulu!), mama archeron is very intrigued, ooh maybe her plan can still work. oh he's asking after feyre, the ancestors must be looking down on her today. nesta's totally suspicious, what does this tall (derogatory) man want with her sister. elain's intrigued cuz tamlin's friend looks very nice, hehe. anyways, tamlin finds feyre in the garden and omg what is he doing here. they're getting closer, and closer, and closer, and oohh they're kissing.

the end.

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

I finished acotar a while ago and I was gonna write a review right away but then christmas happened and I was pretty busy and wanted to enjoy myself so youre getting like two weeks late

It was fine, I really didnt have any strong feelings about the book itself. Like, my main complaints are that it was pretty boring and directionless for most of it and stuff thats mainly related to the next books, if I just look at it as a standalone I would describe it as "not for me, but not that bad"

That is, until we get to Under The Mountain, where everything just gets really stupid and convoluted. That whole section, which is a solid fourth or fifth of the whole book, severely clashes with the sweet fairytale romance that came before it. It reminds me of how all those twilight-knockoff trilogies in the 2010s would have two pretty low-stakes books worth of basically only romance with some weird magic sprinkled on top, and then in the last book it would turn out that the protagonist and her beloved need to Go To War or the world will end except even worse (also now that I think about it, the first three acotar books also seem to be structed like that, so youre getting two shitty plot structures in one. yayyyyyyy)

There was literally no reason for all of that happen, it was honestly just unpleasant reading about Feyre, who had spent the book recovering from her trauma in a way that was genuinely pretty nice to read about, being tortured for three months until she was feeling worse than she ever had before. And some people might say "oh, thats the point, its meant to be tragic" but it didnt feel like tragedy, it just felt tonally dissonant. Also, the entire ending was so weird and dragged out, like that bit where she and Tamlin are staying one last night UTM for some reason and then she talks to Rhysand before they finally leave and its like, BRO dont stay in the Palace of Torments for any longer than you have to, just leave through that portal-tunnel thing

Speaking of Rhysand, he wasnt that bad in this book but Im sure my opinion on him will change. The main thing that sticks out about him is how sjm simply could not resist ALREADY explaining all of his motivations and portraying him as someone whos obviously so noble, despite all the obviously horrific and completely unecessary shit hes doing. Like, theres that scene where Rhysand crushes that guy's brain when Amarantha ordered him to crush his mind and the narration goes "that was actually an act of mercy from Rhysand" ??? that mightve worked better in third person limited where youre working without the implication that the prose is the pov character's actual thoughts, but since its first person and meant to be Feyre's thoughts I was just like "why is she thinking that when she should be thinking 'holy fucking shit, i just signed my life over to a guy who could squish my mind like a grape if he wanted to?!?!?!!'"

Also, theres that scene where Rhysand comes into Feyres cell to "escape from it all" or whatever and he basically monologues to her about his sympathetic motivations and I just. sarah, girlie, you shouldve saved this shit for the second book. Like, rewrite the scene so that he just comes in eithout a word, hes totally unresponsive to Feyre insulting him or trying to ask him what hes doing here, he just sits down in the corner, knees pulled to his chest, he mutters something vague about just wanting to be left alone, maybe he's even got tears in his idk. I think that would be a far more effective way to have him be sympathetic in a more subtle way than just having him monologue his tragic circumstances and noble intentions at Feyre

Thats about it so far, I'll probably start reading ACOMAF in january when winter break is over and I can read it on the bus and in class again

[shi-daisy]

Unlikely Alliance

So I was only planing to make stuff for Day 1 and Day 7 of Eris Week but this idea popped into my head and my dear friend @praetorqueenreyna once told me she liked this ship, so I figured why not? This one for you girlie! We get the heir of Autumn with my precious Spring baby because honselt they both deserved better. Hope you all enjoy!

@erisweek2023

Eris Week 2023- Day 3: Secrets

Unlikely Alliance

The manor was nothing but a collection of vines, broken glass, rubble and wilted flowers. Eris hadn't cared much for the state of things, thinking Tamlin would eventually bounce back from this. He'd been wrong, for the High Lord was lying on the floor in beast form when Eris found him.

He didn't rise when the Autumn prince found him, rather he gazed at him with dulled emerald eyes. "Here to cut off my head?"

"No, Tamlin."

"Pity. I thought Rhysand sent you to finish me off."

"Rhysand's not one to let others do what he himself wishes to accomplish. Besides I have more reasons to keep you around than as a throphy."

"Pray tell, this should be interesting."

He noticed the blonde was slimmer than the last time he saw him when he had a meeting here with the inner circle. 'We shouldn't have frightened him like that.' He regretted.

"I have an alliance proposal. You and I joined as High Lords of the combined Spring and Autumn. "

Tamlin looked at him as if he'd grown another head."...Did you by any chance find Ciaran's secret weed stash, because if so let me know. He wanted me to burn it after he died."

"No Tamlin, I'm not high on your brother's weed. I've given this a lot of thought actually. It would be beneficial for us both.

You know that while Tarquin and his people haven't given any thought to take this land from you, my father is very adamant in getting Spring by force. I'm trying to save you from the edge of his sword."

"Let him. I have nothing left to live for."

"What about Lucien? Do you think he wants to see you dead?! Or Feyre, she'd be heartbroken to hear you passed!"

Tamlin let out a venomous sarcastic laugh that made him wince. "Feyre is the one that plunged this court to ruin for Hybern to destroy! She does not care of my demise! Oh, and your dear baby brother comes every so often to see me, and we talk. Last thing I've heard, he's happily coupled with the human queen and general. I know that in time his visits will cease. I have no one left!"

So he was right. Tamlin still loved those two even if they'd left him behind. He could understand, as there was a lady that refused him and he still sometimes pined for, even if she'd soon be wedded in the Court that he was trying to topple.

"Yet I'm still here. I am offering you a chance to rebuild, to forget, to maybe even reconnect with those you miss."

"Why?! Eris you and I were never close. For years I was only your younger brother's lov- friend!"

"Aye, and I thought that was the only connection we'd share. But as time goes on and everything we knew keeps crashing down, I've kept on thinking that perhaps we should reevaluate our bonds. And yours ws the first to come to mind.

I know how much you loved this court Tamlin. You gave your all for it even if what you truly wanted was to play music and travel. Let me help you heal it, as we bring our enemies down."

"Our enemies? Aren't you Rhysand's ally?"

"That is all talk." He showed Tamlin a Sapphire pendant that glowed in the light. "My true allies are the ones rebelling against Rhysand's rule. His court is preparing to bring him down. I'm just one of their many spies."

Tamlin looked surprised yet impressed. "If we marry, you know well...where my heart lies."

"You know where mine lies too."

Tamlin nodded. He knew that like him, Eris had fallen for one of the Acheron sisters and lost her to an Illiryan.

"Maybe in time that can be healed too. But for now all I want is for the court to be healed, with or without me. I'll accept your proposal."

Eris smiled. He took out the ring he'd brought to make things official. The bronze and ruby piece had been crafted to magically fit the wearer.

Tamlin smiled slightly, he seemed to like it.

"Now, Tamlin Vanserra, will you allow me to get you home?"

"You're still as cheeky as always, but yes."

***

As expected Beron had everything prepared in a mere afternoon, and surprisingly he had followed the instructions Eris suggested. Having all the dishes, flowers and decorations for the banquet be tailored to Tamlin's tastes.

The blonde was being gushed over by Imogen, who made sure he ate enough, and kept him from being overwhelmed.

Thankfully official speeches and matters of the sort were brief, and they could spend the rest of time dancing and enjoying the party. Surprisingly, Tamlin's mood did improve during those few hours.

Once the party ended he was about to pick up his drunken younger siblings, when Nemesis stopped him.

"I'll take care of the hungover babies. Go and rest with your fiance."

"Feeling extra nice or are you not sober?

"Fool, I have enough hallucinations as it is, I'm not making it worse with alcohol. Now scram."

He wouldn't argue with that. Tamlin was still withdrawn despite his better mood, Eris didn't blame him, being back here in Autumn might've brought back memories. So he took the chance to try and cheer up the High Lord of Spring.

Their new room was not as extravagant as the party, but it had a mix of dark greens and reds that was pleasing to the eyes. He'd made sure to furnish it with a writing desk and new instruments for Tamlin. The gesture didn't go unnoticed.

"You remembered my violin and fiddle. Even got a guitar as well."

"Having you play during the Spring Court events was always a highlight. Those who came from Spring said they missed it and I have to agree."

Tamlin chuckled. "You keep secrets well, Eris. This plan and the fact that there's so much about me that you knew and did not show, makes me wonder how many things you have up your sleeve."

He pulled Tamlin close by the waist, relishing in his flustered expression. "You'll come to see it all soon enough, dear future husband. This may all be a part of my plan, but I do intended to get close to you for real Tamlin. Let you see what's under the mask, if you wish to. Just trust that I am not keeping any dangerous secrets from you."

Tamlin's gaze was hopeful, it took little to earn his trust nowadays, even if hardship should've had the opposite effect. "I'll trust you, if you agree to let me keep some small secrets of my own."

"Absolutely."

He pulled out a small Hyacinth flower from his pocket, handing it to Tamlin. The bloom was blue and glowing. Eris had studied flower language before picking the flower.

"A show of caring? You're being very sweet tonight." Tamlin told him.

"Have to spoil my husband to be."

"I'll be sure to return the favor soon."

It didn't take long for them to grow tired, having danced to nearly all of the songs without pause. Eris didn't think he'd feel guilty holding Tamlin's sleeping form. He was no longer the muscular imposing man he'd met years ago. Rather he felt very thin and fragile.

'How did we all leave him to waste away alone?' He pondered. Shaking the thought away he made sure the thick fluffy blankets covered them both well, before snuffing out the candles in the room with a snap of his fingers.

Tamlin was right, he had many secrets. His plans to topple Rhysand, to take down Beron, and to help properly heal Spring were some of his most ambitious and well kept secrets. But there was one he wouldn't voice to anyone, at least not until he was certain he could reveal it without consequences.

He'd kept a torch for young High Lord for centuries, and now that he had him, Eris wouldn't be letting him go anytime soon.