rowan telling aelin he doesn’t deserve her is giving my elucien-wired brain very much lucien speaking to elain
just lucien and rowan’s stories are acually similar in that regard — having lost someone they believed to be their mate and feeling the blame and guilt for it. let’s just hope lucien’s story ends similar to rowan’s too.
Seriously, is it any shock that SJM had to create a storyline where Elain refuses to interact with Lucien even a little bit after she moves on from Graysen?
You put these two in a situation where they are truly receptive to one another’s advances and they’re going to instantly be smitten. They share so many incredible qualities it’s going to be impossible for them not to feel joy together, not to be able to admit when they are wrong, not to appreciate a little feistiness from the other.
SJM has made them such beautiful match that she has to literally prevent them from spending any time alone or interacting with their walls down because there is no way they aren’t instantaneous best friends who have the added bonus of finding the other devastatingly attractive.
Real talk, since acosf came out I haven’t really had an acotar series OTP. Nessian was never it for me, and feysand got a makeover in acosf that was more like a “before” than an “after”. I’ve always appreciated elucien and knew they would be good for one another and logically, knew they will happen in canon.
But every single scenario I think of elucien in, every AU, every way it could play out in canon, I am . Their potential. The turmoil of resisting your own emotions. Of having heard all these things about the other person, and wondering what was true, what was exaggerated, and figuring those things out. Wondering why you’re paired with them. Learning about each other and realizing “ugh, maybe I do like this person after all”. And watching one another go through the exact same process as you are and knowing that no one else will know what it’s like.
When someone declares that Lucien and Elaine are not endgame, I immediately remember how these two were literally created for each other and Sarah herself did not expect this.
I REPEAT, THEY FOUND EACH OTHER ON THEIR OWN, DESPITE THE FACT THAT SARAH WANTED TO SET THEM UP WITH OTHERS!
Sarahis the Cauldron and the Mother and the author but even she was like “well I guess these two are happening, didn’t see that coming”
Working hard on a couple lil posts and stuff trying to get my brain to work and in the meantime here’s some Elain (w/ short hair bc I said so) and Lucien caught in the rain somewhere that I drew a while ago
Anyone else wondering wtf is going on with Jurian and Vassa and Lucien ? Cause I know y’all felt the tension that ONE time we seen them all together! Love triangle ?
And that makes me wonder what does that mean for Elain and Lucien ? Mhmnn
Don’t hate me but .. I don’t see Azriel with Gwyn.. I can see why they both would be good for eachother but there’s no real sparks. HE GAVE HER a hand me down GIFT like wtf..
but I don’t completely want him with Elain either, it would be too unrealistic if all 3 bat boys end up with all 3 sisters ..
As much as I love how the mating bond snaps in for couples .. SJM has to stop making everyone mates. It Just defeats the purpose of it being RARE and special. It should be something that surprises everyone, but it Just feels like everyone has one-
but as she stares into Azriel’s eyes and his shadows scream to lung at her and grab her before she disappears, she whispers something so low she knows only his shadows will hear, and with a cruel smile, he falls to his knees.
The shadowsinger’s eyes now where the beautiful woman, so sweet-so gentle he once loved, was gone. And no one spoke or moved as his eyes went dead. His shadows swirling around him completely swallowing him whole, and Azriel then vowed to raise hell and go to the ends of the earth to get Elain back..
“Mother, are you using me to make the shadowsinger jealous?” Lucien asked, trying not to snicker.
When he looked back down at Elain he found her face had paled — her lips were pressed in a flat line. The expression of someone who knew they’d slipped up.
Lucien rolled his eyes. “Did you believe I was laboring under the illusion you were not pursuing his affections, lady?”
Elain’s mouth opened and closed and she fumbled their steps briefly before Lucien steered them back on track. “It— How long have you known?”
He snorted. “Both of my eyes see just fine.”
Elain’s troubled expression softened into puzzlement. “But you never…”
He arched a single brow. “I’ve never caused a scene? I’ve never objected to another male pursuing my mate? I’ve never gone on a bloody rampage snarling about how our lives are woven together by fate itself and as a result I’m entitled to your heart over a brooding, emotionally unstable spymaster? Hm?”
And just a bit to make ya thirsty:
Lucien’s hands instinctively gripped her waist and he said in a rough voice, “I want to see how badly you want it.” He pulled her closer. “Ride my cock and show me, Lady.”
you know where elain would fit? with a human that was tortured and enslaved by a fae general, brought back to life only to be further used by her king, who doesn’t know who he is and where he belongs anymore. with a human queen that got punished for refusing to ally with fae, sold off to a death-lord to become someone without any control over her own body left. with her mate who more than anyone knows how it is to lose the person you loved the most, the place you called home.
elain, jurian and vassa are all human victims of fae politics. no longer human, they struggle with the reality forced on them and can’t recognise the person they are anymore. they’re stuck in-between the two worlds along with lucien, having lost everything that defined them. I hope that they find each other as their story unfolds because if anyone could make elain finally open up, it’s those that suffered the same fate as her.
does sjm even realise how much power she holds, one scene with sweet elain yanking lucien’s hair and him whimpering into her mouth and I’m buying 5 of these.
thinking of elain finding herself again. dancing and laughing her life away, radiant from happiness, the way she was after archerons reclaimed their riches. loved. cherished. thriving. still staying up long after parties end, voice hoarse from hours of talking with lucien but eyes glowing the same, feeling seen and seeing him in return because they’re one.
rhysand saying that elain has always been doing what is expected of her isn’t foreshadowing her rejecting the bond because elain is still at the point where she tries to fit in. that much is certain with how it was deliberately pointed out that she feels the need to be a part of the night court but ultimately sticks out like a sore thumb. no one urges her to accept the bond—in fact, it was never mentioned to her. she is given freedom to not even address it for 2 years. if anything, her feelings towards azriel seem like her way to fit in. no matter how much you want it, she originally did not think of him romantically. they met when she was already in love with graysen, and later mourned their relationship. even in the book that she starts to act flustered around him, she tells feyre that she doesn’t want a fae male. which doesn’t make sense unless her feelings aren’t genuine.
the only person that keeps bringing elain and azriel up together in the original trilogy is feyre. she does so over and over again. goes as far as wondering why azriel isn’t her mate instead. elain is attentive, that much is canon. she notices things like that.
we know azriel asks himself why both rhys and cassian got mated to archeron sisters but not him. what are the odds that elain doesn’t as well? she doesn’t know lucien and can only judge him by what she notices about him. and she notices others being distrustful, acting on edge and alerted when he’s near her. they don’t even give them a chance, and it reflects on her. so elain does what she’s been doing all her life—tries to fit in to survive.
us eluciens really are stuck with having to watch the other side always use elain to belittle other female characters and demonise her in the process, huh?
lucien is born from love, to be loved while elain is love personified. he is the sun, she is a flower that blooms. he is fire that consumes all, she is earth that grows life. a fox and a doe. a courtier and a lady. spell-cleaver and seer. autumn and spring. equals. mates.whatever our souls are made of, his and hers are the same.
I do feel that gifts play a role with elain. she was given the engagement ring from graysen and because she was truly in love with him, she refused to take it off when he broke it off with her. then she was given the necklace from azriel and when he said that it was a mistake, she didn’t hesitate to give it back. lucien gave her two gifts and despite her underwhelming reaction, she kept them both—like there’s a chance they will grow on her. like there’s a chance he will.
I’m just so ready for helion, lady of the autumn court, lucien and elain to become the IT family in prythian, owning the looks, the style and golden hour aesthetics.
I actually would like a spin-off with everyone’s kids. give me nessian’s daughter threatening with fists anyone who makes gwynriel’s son cry or elucien’s daughter applying ridiculously pink lipstick on nyx when he sleeps. gwynriel’s son secretly loving to read hopelessly romantic books and aunt nesta always looking at him fondly. nyx claiming he never painted once in his entire life but having several paintings of his mom hidden in his room. nessian’s daughter absolutely dominating illyria. everyone thinking nyx is the scary one but it’s actually elucien’s daughter with the charming smile and a knife ready behind her back, ever the fox.
feyre glows multiple times in the story, introducing it as one of the day court’s powers. lucien, being the sole heir to the court, is first shown unlocking its power when he breaks free from hybern to reach for terrified elain. when feyre goes inside elain’s mind, she describes it as “solid iron, covered in vines of flowers, the blossoms sealed,sleepingbuds tucked into tangles of leaves and thorns.” elain spends weeks in a stagnant state following her capture, just looking out the window, onlyleaving her room shortly after lucien arrives. their first interaction happens in front of another window in the library. elain looks away from it precisely when sunlight on gold catches lucien’s eye. something sparks in hers when their gaze meets—which is, notably, the first positive emotion she shows since hybern. as if she was subconsciously waiting for it, for him. “if anyone can sense if something is amiss, it’s a mate”—and lucien does recognise what she needs despite being a stranger and advises feyre. then elain finally shows clarity when lucien tugs on their bond. “what can I get you elain?” nesta asks right after. “sunshine.” from that point forward, she slowly gets better.
the mother loves elain, she would only choose the right person for her. rhysand notes that all her life, elain has been doing what is expected of her. sleeping beauty, like her mind showed feyre. lucien could be the key to unlock her true potential, just like she is to his. the day court power manifested because lucien was determined to protect elain. elain is compared to sealed blossoms, sleeping buds seeking sunshine in the night court—in the wrong place.
actually, give me elucien sabotaging their mating bond and it just gets more and more creative until they both realise they’re having fun with it and start laughing together and it gets to the point where they’re looking forward to the next stunt but then either of them tries to make the other jealous and it works and suddenly it’s not so funny anymore and they get mad and the other person starts to feel their absence and it all leads to a heated argument where they angry confess.
people just never read a good arranged marriage trope where you don’t want to have anything to do with your spouse at the beginning just to find out they’re everything you’ve ever prayed for along the way. the first time elain calls lucien her mate is going to hit like a truck.
“thoughts slammed into me, images and memories, a pattern of thinking and feeling that was old, and clever, and sad, so endlessly sad and guilt-ridden, hopeless”
“betrayal, queasy and oily, slid through his veins”
[after elain said he betrayed them] “he wished she’d shoved him out the window behind her”
lucien had been battling with survivor guilt for decades, if not more. he spent all this time firmly believing that he got his mate brutally murdered for loving him. he was blamed by her people for this. then he found out that she wasn’t his mate at all—instead, it was another female that suffered because of his indirect involvement. it’s his worst nightmare replaying all over again.
I’m guessing that elain feels so uneasy in his presence because, as his mate, she can feel all of it too—guilt for what happened to her, guilt for his former lover dying in vain, guilt for longing for another despite barely knowing her. terrible, terrible things to feel when you don’t know each other enough to allow and accept this vulnerability. of course it’s awkward. the mating bond’s nature is very intimate and they just met. of course it’s uncomfortable and complicated. yet elain never says that her problem is with lucien personally. she circles around him in acowar, eyes sparkling at the sight of him, taking a step as if to stop him from going after vassa, following him after the battle and peering at him curiously, inviting him to velaris. the book ends on a positive note for them, as if she is willing to try. but then he never gets to velaris and only visits every now and then. they’re both ignoring each other because, as mor pointed out in acofas, they aren’t ready for it. that doesn’t mean they won’t find each other at the end. it’s a very sjm thing to do.
when elucien happens, I hope it’s elain making the first move. I need her to yank him down to her level and kiss him senseless, leaving everyone shocked out of their mind and lucien too flustered to cope. I know my girl will never be caught waiting for males to come around again, and I know lucien will love every minute of it.
feyre: posts all her art on insta. tried tiktok but her work was too good for that.
elain: snap score is like 500,000,000. honestly don’t know how she has the strength to answer all those snaps.
amren: one of those kids on tumblr with questionable morals.
cassian: definately is tiktok famous.
nesta: completely denies it but is a total fangirl and has a fan account for her favourite book characters on tumblr.
mor: insta model, with secret feminist page.
rhysand: total redditor. just trust me on this one.
azriel: um, it’s called ‘social’ media, not 'hang out with the shadows’ media, so it’s not his thing. just kidding, who on this app is social. total depressed tumblr kid
lucien: he has wattpad energy. fight me.
tamlin: definitely owns a 'meninist’ insta account.
summary: set in the future after acofas & koa | Prythian and Erilea have been opened to each other ever since a portal connecting the two worlds was found. Queen Aelin Galathynius has signed a secret peace treaty with the High Lady and High Lord of the Night Court, thus fortifying their friendship, and the union of their families. But when the other High Lords of Prythian discover the Night Court’s secret friends, they are intent on seeing them as foes, and Eris Vanserra is ready to take the opportunity to further destroy what little is left of Prythian’s unity.
In a world remade by peace, you can hear the faraway drums of war that can - and shall - destroy it once again.
***
tw:verbal, emotional and physical abuse; sexual themes; violence & gore
rating:explicit
masterlist | ask box | gen 2 page | tog + acotar gen 2 family tree
***
<—– PROLOGUE PART 3
CHAPTER ONE —–> (coming soon!)
***
~the worlds, books, and any recognizable characters belong to sarah j maas~
***
A century or so ago
Northern Fields, Autumn Court, Prythian
Her wedding day is uneventful, full of boorish people and, to make matters worse, it pours down the entire time.
Annika detests the rain as much she detests her new husband.
Emilian Ardor has the wry smile of a hunter with an easy prey’s blood soaking his clothes. He drinks the day away, flaunting his wealth, flirting with the musicians, and stuffing his mouth with enough sweets to feed an entire village.
Despite this, Annika supposes that she can find a few reprieves in the middle of this rather lamentable situation. For one, when she declared she did not wish for her family to come, Emilian’s reply was a simple shrug, so she was spared having to look at her father’s face and trying to hide the desire to spill his blood on the white petals covering the ground. And though she has spent the last hour being dragged around by her husband’s arm to greet his… friends, he has not spoken more than four words to her since their vows, nor has he attempted to touch her more than it is considered necessary. Besides, the ceremony begins and ends before she can bask in her revolt, and her husband’s wine has been satisfactory enough to keep her company since then.
They dine alone in his ostentatious table, candlelight between them. Annika has traded her gown for a simple tunic and dark trousers to match. She had no intention of impressing his friends before with that appalling excuse of a dress, and she certainly has no intention of impressing Emilian now with the clothes she feels most comfortable in.
