Rereading Empire of Storms and once again notice a difference between Rowan and Lorcan regarding their paramours… When Elide is close to breaking from despair, Lorcan offers her pleasantries and comforts, the bed, a bath, a tin of salve for her leg. He talks about trying to use kindness to make her want to help him, be grateful to him.
Then there’s Rowan who sees Aelin about to snap and is like “Lol backflip bitch”
Everyone talks about what a cold hearted bastard Lorcan can be, but pre-QoS Rowan is 1000 times more of a prick lol
why does SJM never follow up on or stick to anything she writes?
nesta says fighting isn’t the only strength that exists and now she’s a ✨warrior✨
nesta says she wants to go travel the world and see what it has to offer and now she’s ✨stuck in a house where the only way out is to either take 10,000 steps or ask someone to get her out✨
feyre says she doesn’t want a child and wants to experience life and next thing you know ✨she’s a mother✨
I also feel the same way, like realistically people change their minds about things all the time but with SJM isn’t her writing her characters to fit the plot not her writing g the plot to fit her characters.
I personally say she’s writing to fit the male narrative. Which is interesting since the male character never even has more of the POV.
Cassian’s a warrior. Nesta’s a warrior. Who has to do more of the groveling? Nesta. Who shouldered the emotion and romance of this ship? Nesta. Who had more of the power (money influence friends etc)? Cassian. Was that ever evened out? Nope. She changes her BODY to have a baby. What???????? That’s something that happens. Literally. Forget Cassian saying I love you. he didn’t apologize even once. But? Nesta. She did.
Rhysand’s a high lord. Feyre’s a high lady. Does she ever get to be in the high lady role that we see her in? No. Who has more of the voice in pregnancy arc? Rhysand. Literally fucking Rhysand.
Who is now the main intersection between Gwyn, Elain, and Mor? Azriel. It’s always Azriel!!!!
Even in the main plot of Mor, who now has more of a voice and influence? Eris. Who do we almost believe more and have sympathy for based on context alone and how it’s presented? Eris!!!
Does Mor even have a narrative? no!
Does Elain have a narrative? no! Do we even have any details? no!
They can fix wings and eyes for the male characters. But for the female characters? Emerie cant fly. Too complicated to fix. Feyre almost dies. No c sections exist. There’s a library full of women who are sas and they have an entire people who have no rights for women. Even Amren now looks like a tyrant.
Every single mother character is abused. LOA. Cassian’s mom. Rhysands mom. Azriels mom.
Feyre is the first high lady and there still is no new high lady. Amarantha is a powerful women and she’s the first villain. The queens are the villains. Vassa is cursed, lost her kingdom.
Has any of this been resolved in any concrete way that even makes it seem like a smidge that women have power in this world which satisfies girlboss feminism? NOOOOOOO.
So I say maybe when she gets that straight everything will actually start making sense here.
Wow, this was so spot on! Her thirst for her male characters drives so much of how and what she writes.
Anyone who isn’t currently in a loving, committed relationship is thisclose to being useless to the story. That’s why Mor disappeared, and Elain is nearly MIA.
It’s what I’ve been annoyed about since acosf came out - how she can’t even consider a character’s existence if they aren’t literally on the page. I guess this is another aspect.
To me, this is also another sign of her being self-indulgent in her writing, which on the one hand is okay! We won’t write if we don’t enjoy it! But uh… there are readers and stuff We can and will find inconsistencies and plot holes.
I think this is one of the many reasons I very much prefer ToG to ACOTAR. While both series have their merits and flaws, I think ToG sticks to it’s guns more. The characters have more agency outside of relationships. The reason Aelin can have four different relationships in her series, all of them rounded out, is because her life never revolves fully on them. Even her relationship with Rowan is secondary to her own goals and achievements as a person. Because ToG is, at it’s heart, an story of adventure. ACOTAR, at it’s heart, is a self indulgent romance that follows more of the male-dominating, submissive woman, BDSM sort of vibe that Sarah enjoys reading. (She has mentioned the Black Dagger Brotherhood many times in interviews and I read some way back in the day and they are very much a narrative on a man finding, claiming, and dominating a woman into sex marathons and baby-making). And there isn’t anything wrong with people enjoying that sort of fictional narrative.
The issue is that after reading ToG, we expected more to the story. ToG has well rounded women who, while they all eventually do end up in relationships and while the men do still have these ridiculous “alpha male” type personalities, it is the women who carry the series.
It is Aelin working herself out of slavery and oppression, Aelin coming to terms with an abandoned heritage and then fighting like hell to reclaim a land and a people who have been submerged in darkness for ten years. It is Aelin’s story of evolving from self-centered assassin to a Queen of the People.
It is the story of a witch who learns what love is, and that love is the only power worth fighting for. Who learns this from her bonds with her wyvern and her friends and secondarily, if that, from a romantic partner.
It’s the story of a woman who travels to the ends of the continent, overcoming disability and the evils of men and war, on the slim chance of a better world. Elide is the carrier if the word key, and the one to plot the demise of the dark villain.
It is the story of a woman who chose healing over the darkness the world. It is Yrene who brings Chaol out of the dark, who defeats Erawan, who’s bravery and merit combined, not with Chaol but with the cunning and courage of Nesryn, that wins them an army.
ToG has women who carry the plot. Women in true seats of power. Aelin is Queen. Rowan, even as her husband, is still King Consort. It is Manon who is Queen, even with a romance with Dorian that might have given her a crown. It is Yrene who is the savior of the world, the title of Lady never a needed addition to the power she has amassed for herself.
ACOTAR was a romance with a flimsy fantastic plot beneath the main story that is Rhys and Feyre. And yes, even with all Rhys spouts about being pro-woman, Feyre still dresses the way he likes, is only close friends with his friends (Lucien, Alis, all of Feyre’s friends outside of Rhys’s are either forgotten or sidelined), and lives his lifestyle. She talks about how Tamlin just wanted her in pretty dresses, having babies, and painting, but in the end, that is exactly what she does with Rhys. She can’t even have an argument with him about how he treats her sister without Rhys telling his buddy that he’s sending away the servants not because of their arguing, but because she’ll soon forget about it while having sex with him.
And then Nesta falls into the exact same pattern with Cassian. They argue, she submits to him, he fucks her. He’s a dick, she retaliates, she feels bad, she submits, he fucks her.
Sarah is GOOD at chemistry. She’s good at making the audience thirst for the next kiss and the next round of heat. She’s good at making characters want each other, and making the audience then want them to want each other.
And it wouldn’t be so frustrating if that was ALL she was good at. If ACOTAR was just a sex romance book that I picked up when I was in the mood. But she adds enough elements to make it have the potential to be SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. And so it’s incredibly disappointing when it falls short.
The women, given so much potential for greatness, settle to be what is most comfortable for the men in their lives to live with.
Friendly reminder that Aelin technically started all of the antagonistic shit between her court and Lorcan. Lorcan didn’t do anything to her until after she almost got him killed by Valg and Wyrdhounds. And even then, when he got the better of her, he only wanted to make a deal with her and Rowan. He could have just threatened to kill her to get the Wyrd keys, but instead he offered to make a deal with them– a fair deal, giving them something that was truly valuable and did what he said it did. A deal which *he* adhered to and they lied about.
And the main reason Aelin hated him was for the fact he whipped Rowan on Maeve’s orders, despite knowing that the blood oath made it impossible to refuse and the fact that, when Rowan gets whipped Aelin describes both Gavriel and Lorcan as being blanked faced and pitiless, guessing to the fact that they had both delivered and received the same punishment before. (Which I’m sure Rowan had also been on the giving end of that punishment at one point or another).
So yeah, that’s my Ted Talk. Thanks for showing up.
Join us July 17-23 as we celebrate one of the most underappreciated ships that SJM has ever gifted us!
Be sure to follow this blog for reminders and hype, and tag @ElorcanWeek2022 as you participate through the week!!!
Daily themes:
Sunday, 7/17: Favorite Moment - Share your favorite Elorcan moments!
Monday, 7/18: A Logistical Nightmare - share your favorite headcanons, thoughts, and fan work exploring the highs and lows of Elorcan’s height difference
Tuesday, 7/19: Shirt Shorts - A day for exploration of the many uses of Lorcan’s shirts
Wednesday, 7/20: What the Future Holds - Tiny Elides and Lorcans? Rebuilding Perranth? What does their happily ever after look like?
Thursday, 7/21: I Will Always Find You - AU Day
Friday, 7/22: So Lorcan did - OH NO SHE DIDN’T! Share your thoughts, headcanons, and corrections for that egregious fade-to-black
Saturday, 7/23: Free Day! Give all the love for this underappreciated couple!
This is an ask for my fav ACOTAR/ToG fanfic writers who have seen Gilmore Girls!
Grumpy Lorcan and Elide always reminded me of Luke and Lorlai from Gilmore girls. Can one of you lovely fanfic writers write a fic where everyone thinks Lorcan is a jerk cause he is a bit of a loner and keeps to himself. But Elide worms her way into his seemingly cold heart and realizes that he’s the one that is doing random nice things around town (like fixing broken mailboxes and fence posts and helping old ladies with their groceries) when nobody is looking? Maybe even has done nice things for Aelin and co’s family without them knowing? It’s a small town, after all.
Can also loosely be based of this, put your own spin on it! Its just something that’s been in my head but I am not even close to being able to write as well as all you guys!
I kinda think that that is where @shyvioletcat might go in his/her Light The Sparksfic(Elide and that bus stop without the awnings that casually she told Lorcan about) but I could be off the mark on that! If I am, @shyvioletcat hint hintttttttt. :D
Anywayyyyyy. No pressure. Just an ask! Hope this blanket ask is okay, I always feel sheepish and guilty about messaging people for this. Here I go! I am tagging the fic writers I know in the Acotar/ToG universe, but totally open to any i didn’t tag and haven’t followed yet!
A drunk one-night stand in college between Lorcan and Elide resulted in Stella Luna, their now five-year old daughter who’s starting kindergarten. Desperately in love with each other, Elide and Lorcan navigate the tricky world of successful co-parenting while trying to keep their repressed feelings from ruining everything.
All they wanted was a meaningless night. A first names only, waking up alone kind of night. It’s still meaningless when your one night stand is also your kid’s kindergarten teacher, right?
“I’ll have what she’s having.” Luca nodded, a cheeky look that Lorcan didn’t like in his warm eyes as he went away. “I’m Lorcan.” He held out his hand and she shook it, his rough hand dwarfing hers.
“Elide.”
He repeated her name, liking the way it rolled off of his tongue. “Elide. I like that name.”
Elide smiled, her eyes crinkling, “Thank you. I got it for my birthday.”
“Wha- what- what is that?” The blonde reached over and used the tip of her index finger to pull back the neckline of Elide’s dress, baring the mark and the countless others on her pale skin. Elide slapped her sister’s hand away, preferring that she didn’t expose her in public. “Elide!”
Despite the voice in her head that was telling her to keep her head down and keep walking, Elide turned, seeing Lorcan standing at the top of his front steps. “Yes?” Something akin to grief rippled through his dark irises and he swallowed once.
“Alright, let’s go then,” Lorcan conceded, rubbing his eyes again as he picked Kohana up and put him on his feet, herding his child downstairs. “Whaddya want, K-Man?”
They arrived at the top of the stairs and Kohana hopped down, landing on each step with two feet. “Fuckin’ cereal.”
“Did you say sorry? I think you should say sorry.”
Huffing a laugh, Lorcan looked down at his kid’s head, brushing back his wild hair. “Maybe I’ll try that, kid.” Kohana nodded, as if he had solved all the problems and like adults were so stupid sometimes. “When’d you get so wise, K-Man?”
this has been sitting around in my drafts for months but i decided to dust it off and finish it :) i think we could all use some elorcan in our lives right now also please don’t judge the gif i just think it’s cute
Lorcan and his next-door neighbor had an agreement. She used his washing machine and dryer in exchange for baked goods and walking Koko when he had to work late or was called in out of the blue. It worked out well for both of them.
Picking up his clothing strewn across his bedroom floor, Lorcan shoved it all in the washer and turned it on before heading for the shower. Elide had used her key to come in last night while he was out with Rowan and the others at the bar to wash her clothes. Lorcan had stumbled in late, lip-locked with a brunette who was nice on the eyes. He barely remembered her name now, only that the sex had been mediocre. The girl vanished before he woke up.
Thank Hellas for small miracles.
Wringing out his hair, he stepped out of the shower and slung a towel around his waist. Padding to the washer in the other room, he threw his scrubs and other clothes in the dryer. There were just over three hours until he was supposed to clock in. That meant plenty of time for him to take Koko on a walk and stop for breakfast at the little coffee shop down the road.
Lorcan spent the extra half-hour blow drying his hair, just because he could. And because his hair took a minimum of four hours to dry. And he didn’t want another freaked out kitten climbing him like a tree and getting its claws caught in his hair while it was supposed to be given shots. Once it was finally dry and silky soft, he braided it back in a messy French braid. There, problem solved.
Koko jumped up from his bed the second Lorcan reached for the leash. He was a massive pitbull with inky black fur and had the biggest heart out of all the animals that came through the clinic. On the streets, most people crossed to the other side if they could, and if they couldn’t, they just gave them a wide berth. The combination of six-foot-seven Lorcan and Koko was just too intimidating.
The stories he’d heard about Lorcan had been full of glory and gore — mostly the latter. A male who didn’t make mistakes, and who was ruthless with those who did.
