#why would acotar be there?

[romanticatheartt]

I don't like this

[the-darkestminds]

Me:

[clockwork-ashes]

elain, eris, and jurian would be the most iconic trio of friends at fancy events i feel. they 100% sit around in circles at parties and gossip, sipping wine. jurian eats pastries the whole night, eris always comes overdressed, and elain just thinks they’re neat.

[copypastus]

So that hofas bonus Ember chapter huh.

I wish Tamlin and Nesta built a casual friendship.

It's such a missed opportunity! They were both assigned penance eternal by the IC over their relationships with Feyre with no road to redemption. In acosf they were both on a shame spiral. You'd think this would be a like calls to like moment! Opportunity to recognise that just coz Rhys's friends hate you doesn't make you a bad person!

[extremely-judgemental]

Rhysand cast a ward around Velaris when he was UtM. None of the IC could leave the city if they wanted to keep the protection in place, right?

So for fifty years, none of them even visited Hewn City or Illyria, is it? Those people lived and suffered under Amarantha's reign and governed themselves. After she's dead, Rhysand and IC parade around demanding their submission as if they did anything for these people who were left to fend for themselves, look after themselves only to be treated as expendables in the next war. Why would Hewn City respect Rhysand more than Keir especially when the first thing he did returning to the city was to put on a sex act in front of the entire court? Why would the Illyrians respect Cassian more than their generals or each other?

Someone please tell me I'm wrong because this is ridiculous!

[dippedinmelancholy]

When I first read the hints of Nessian, I was feral for them. Every small interaction and touch, I obsessed over. I cried for them. I did not want them to be mates. I believed the whole line of "mates are rare" because I read ToG first, and while there are a great many love stories (all beautiful imo), there's only one mate story. I wanted Nessian to choose each other. I wanted them to fall in love with each other despite the initial fire and anger. I wanted them to choose each other. I dreamed of them both recognizing that the other wore masks, playing a part they thought could protect themselves the most. Savage, intimate, romantic lovers who only revealed their true selves together. The entire IC confused, including Feyre, for why these two chose one another, time and time again. Instead I got ACOSF. Cassian is a gym bro, with literally no emotional maturity. It's a miracle he can talk with Rhysand's dick so far down his throat. Nesta has more emotional connection with Azriel. I think she might have more emotional connection with a wall. They hate fuck each other. Nesta never thinks she is worthy of love. Cassian never cares to tell her that he loves her. He just breaks her down until she conforms to his shit family. He pushes her until she literally passes out. Doesn't care that she is suicidal and broken. Doesn't care how his family treats her.

It's all so disappointing and sad. The mate bond doesn't mean shit unless you're Feysand.

[thrumbolt]

It will never stop being amusing to me that the warning Ianthe gives Tamlin in the beginning of ACOMAF about how Feyre will get either killed or abducted by other high lords and kept for breeding essentially came true.

How Feyre ended up exactly how she feared she would with Tamlin: A waifu who does basically nothing except have her little art studio and her little desk job and pops out babies for the high lord. Sure, what you want in life can change and consent makes all the difference, but it is still an absolutely WILD narrative choice.

[works-of-heart]

why do you ship elucien? im not trying to be rude its just genuine curiosity. to me elriel seems to be obviously canon and the author is writing them in a way that you'd genuinely find in romance with a very common misunderstanding trope. there have been so many hints to elriel being canon such as Azriel's mother being from Rosehall and the rose Symbolism with Elain. Given that Elain has shown nothing but contempt for Lucien, I just can't wrap my mind around why people will ship elucien and not elriel which appears to me to be endgame.

I don't mean any hate. I just can't understand why people would set themselves up for failure shipping a noncanon/fanon couple. I see so much in this fandom over the shipwars and wonder why the wars even exist. If elriel is canoon why do eluciens fight so hard against it? shouldnt we all be adults and accept it instead of flinging insults back and forth to each other? Not saying that you are but I see so many people go back and forth with these insults and it gets so annoying i thought we were all adults here. either way i hope you have a good day

Hi Anon! I appreciate the question, and the chance to gush about why I love Elucien.

First, however, let me start by saying anyone can ship anything and anyone they please regardless of canon or endgame. Shipping comes from the heart, it’s a feeling. Many people think of possibilities that two characters could have, or see their chemistry and enjoy it. For others, it’s the angst and connections that they have. A common trope is enemies to lovers, and that doesn’t always start off with a lovey dovey spark, but the tension and angst.

I feel that a common belief in fandoms now these days are that ships are only valid if they are canon or not, or, even more so, if they are endgame. A ships validity isn’t based off any of these factors, but how you feel about them. Crackships can sometimes evolve from a joke or meme, but then people sit down and actually find they love the idea of them and go onto creating some really awesome things for the ship! Even if it started as a joke, some may derive joy from it.

So you ship Elriel (I am assuming by context) and I ship Elucien. At the end of the day, one of them will be canonically endgame, but that does not mean people can’t still ship them. I promise, no matter what the book ends up to be, people will STILL ship who they want to, and that’s totally fine. Shipping wars have existed forever, genuinely someone will argue that one pair is better suited than their counterpart. I can understand that Elain gave Azriel some charged looks, I can see that she wanted to kiss him, and I understand why some other Elriel shippers like them. To be honest, I’ve shipped many a brooding boy with the sweet, energetic girl. The biggest example is Jin and Xiaoyu from Tekken who finally, after 25 years of teasing and build up became canonical endgame. Then there is Squall and Selphie from FF8, who did not become endgame, but I still ship them and love them.

We can all debate why we think one will be endgame over the other, some can concede and at least understand why people feel that way, others will choose to agree to disagree and stick to their grounds. One of the things I, as an Elucien hate about it is when an Elriel will call me, or my fellow Eluciens delusional for shipping a mated pair. For not seeing that Sarah is setting us up for failure when she’s played this game before. Girl likes guy, girl thinks she’s found her home, girl finds another guy whom she avoids who happens to be her mate and fights against fate. Girl spends time with guy she avoided to realize he is her equal, that he is a good male, that together they are a good fit. Girl struggles with her feelings and eventually chooses her mate who lifts her up and the two are happy in love. To be called delusional for seeing such connections and ship a pair that the author herself mated is very annoying. You do not have to agree with me, that is fine, but it does not make my ship any less valid.

Now, as to WHY I like Elucien? There are just… WAY too many reasons to list them all and this would be dreadfully long if I list everything. So I’ll name some of my top reasons.

Lucien and Elain are both underestimated. People brush off Lucien as someone who isn’t a Highlord, nor illyrian, so obviously he’s not as strong as Rhys as the Inner Circle. Elain is constantly talked down as plain, simple, peaceful and uninteresting. We haven’t been able to see Elain use her seer powers since Lucien last tugged on the bond, and with Lucien’s hinted heritage, I think we’re going to see these two show off a different kind of power.

The tension! There’s so much tension between Lucien and Elain, tension that we don’t have a full picture of. It’s clear that Elain is fighting against the bond, and Lucien, the man who promised to never love another, is now faced with a mate he believes does not want him. He’s dealing with the guilt of Jesminda while Elain is avoiding the bond. When both are faced with what the mother gifted them, finding the reason why they’re mates will be an emotional journey!

Home. People say that Elain belongs in the NC with her family, she even stated it too. However SJM seems to be showing that Elain might be a bit like Feyre in the way Feyre once claimed the SC was her home. There was a line about how the big poofy dress looked ridiculous on Feyre and how at odds she was with the place she once called home, with a man she once said she loved and made love to. The context of the book tells us that Elain is not where she’s meant to be, in fact, it was said over and over she was made for spring, she’d love spring, and her mate is currently there. I think these two are going to realize home is not a place, it is a feeling they get when they’re together.

Their potential. SJM said that Elain surprised both Lucien AND herself! There had to have been something that she saw between them when writing MAF that made her say “Yes, Mate these two instantly! Not only that, make it snap now!” Seeing that Elain is a gentle soul and Lucien is someone whose a bit of a smart ass, I’d love to see these two together. Elain would be the type of person to put him in his place, and Lucien wouldn’t baby her either, unlike how everyone else treats her! Their dynamic would be a treat to see on page.

There’s so much more to say about them, and I could go on and on! We have tension, and the possible healing and growth that was hinted at, the fact Lucien ventured with Papa A. and Elain was closest to him. There’s also the fact that Elain holds hope, she is light and warmth and Lucien who seems so hopeless, could find that in her. Elain craves light and sunshine, Lucien being the heir of Day, to having a blinding white light himself. The way when Lucien interacts with her, her powers activate. Not to mention the similarities between Solas and Cthona, Crescent City deities who are mates and lovers.

So to answer Anon, there are many reasons I love Elucien, and I will continue to ship them long after the series is over. Whether or not they’re in love right now, before either of them have a book has no bearing on their validity as a ship, or their possibility in their book. I think you’d find it easier to just let people have their ships and enjoy what they wish in peace rather than trying to tell others they can or cannot ship based off what the books tell us right now. Because as we all know from ACOTAR and ACOMAF, it doesn’t matter who you love at the start, not when you find home with your mate.

[gwandas]

Do certain people know that when they say shit like “you’re not a real Nesta stan if you don’t like Cassian/Nessian,” that they are implying Nesta isn’t worth liking on her own?

[yaralulu]

I hate to engage in shipwar discourse but i’m feeling very anti elriel so 😄.

Elain and Azriel’s relationship is literally doomed before it even starts and I don’t understand how ppl don’t see this.

Fundamentally, Elain and Azriel want very different things that do not align together. Like Azriel’s whole shtick is wanting a mate. It’s literally all he wants. He believes finding his mate would make him worthy and would solve all his problems. He thinks a mating bond would be a blessing and gift from the mother and it would somehow rid him from all the horrible things he’s done bc if the mother thinks he’s worthy enough of a mate then maybe he’s not so irredeemable. He so desperately yearns for a mate that he’s literally become delusional about it and is questioning the cauldron. He wants a mate, he wants that validation and blessing from the mother.

Elain on the other hand, currently resents the mating bond and everything it means and doesn’t want it. She views the mating bond as this thing that ruined her relationship with grayson, as this thing that’s taking her choices away and she doesn’t see the value or gift in it. She wants nothing to do with it right now.

Their wants do not align. but it’s not just this it’s literally everything else.

Elain has expressed wanting to do greater things in life. She wanted to help out with the troves in acosf,she wants to help out with koschei and the upcoming war. She wants to be useful and to be seen.

Azriel would literally hate nothing more. He doesn’t want Elain in any danger, doesn’t even want her doing things that are slightly risky even if she wants to do them. Her wants are not a priority bc he just wants her safe and cooped up in her garden. In his eyes, she’s fragile and delicate and should not be exposed to such things.

Their wants do not align.

“oh but Azriel being happy without a mate and Elain getting a choice on who she’s with would be so poetic 🥺!!”

Azriel would literally spend the entire relationship wondering if he still has a mate out there bc the desire for one will always be there. and Elain would spend the entire relationship wondering what would’ve happened if she’d gotten with her mate instead because the bond will always be there. oh and if Lucien loses his mind, there’ll be that nice guilt to go with the doubt.

I get the appeal for this ship I really do. Light and dark. Sweet nice girl saves broken guy from the darkness within him. I get it. but like realistically? these two would not lasttt. I’d give them 4 months TOPS before they realize they have nothing in common and that their wants and vision for their lives do not align with one another.

they’re doomed in every way idk what to tell you.

[ennawrite]

“I can eat, drink, fuck, and fight just as well as I did before. Better, even.”

Oh…

[romanticatheartt]

*writing acosf bonus chapter*

Sjm: Okaaaaay so I need to end this ship. What better way to make Elain feel small and shy around him instead of making Elain make the first move to kiss like the rest of my fmcs, he's going to be the one, and then to make it even worse he's going to call it a mistake!! And then when Rhysand asks him "what of Mor?" it would show that Elain, just like Mor is a distraction to him. Oh and make him to think of no future with her... yeah these are all very clear red flags!!!

*some* fandoms: Omg Azriel wants to eat Elain's 😻 so romantic!!! He thinks of her while he jerks off. He's so in love with her and sjm is going to give us forbidden love romance🥰💕

Sjm: I mean I also wrote that his shadows dance with Gwyn's breath and dance with a silent music that *nervous laugh* can only be concluded as mate signs, that's how I wrote other mated couples... oh and he thought of her smile!! Isn't that lovely...

*some* fandom: Gwyn is a siren and lightsinger who lured Azriel to make him stay away from Elain and made him to gift that necklace to her!!!😠

Sjm: *weirded out*

*writing hofas bonus chapter*

Sjm: Well... that sorta back fired??? So now I'm gonna write Azriel saying he has no partner, lover or any mate that he knows of. That will be enough to show how he's single asf. AND on top of that his shadows danced again while he hummed a music and who else sings? Yes, Gwyn. Who's the only one Azriel was comfortable enough to say something personal about himself and no one else!!

*some* fandoms: OMG Azriel doesn't want to tell anyone that he's secretly seeing Elain, he wants to protect her. Ah we're getting our forbbien romance!!

Me:

[kataraavatara]

i still can’t believe the idea that the CoN as a front to “pROtEcT VELaRis” is an acceptable idea both in world and to the fandom at large. like. imagine you’re at the faerie equivalent of a UN meeting and you don’t trust one of the countries because they have a history of serious human rights violations. and the leaders of said country are like. “Yeah. We DO allow tons of human rights violations in our territory, but only in one area. we actually have a secret city where none of that happens, and the reason we encourage those human rights violations is so our evil reputation can PROTECT the good city” and your reaction is “oh word. You were actually the GOOD GUYS all along, sorry I wasn’t familiar with your game.” instead of like idk being horrified that some citizens are subjugated and treated as second class in order to benefit the others.

[the-darkestminds]

Lucien is clearly accustomed to Vassa and Jurian's incessant bickering and acts as a buffer between them. That kind of fighting and tension is a perfect set up for a romantic pairing. The guy who plays chaperone or buffer (Lucien) is not the one who ends up with the girl. The path of greatest tension and resistance is usually the one most fun to read about.

[copypastus]

Nothing gave me more whiplash IN MY LIFE than going from acowar to acofas.

Remember when Feyre closed the chapter on her relationship with Tamlin and wished him well? Coz the Inner Circle sure keeps forgetting.

[lainalit]