#elain actoar

[acourtofquietdreamers]

Elain Archeron Week: Home

“Elain stood between Nuala and Cerridwen at the long worktable. All three of them covered in flour. Some sort of doughy mess on the surface before them. The two handmaiden-spies instantly bowed to Rhys, and Elain—There was a slight sparkle in her brown eyes. As if she’d been enjoying herself with them.”

Art by sara_parrenyo and commissioned by me

In Feyre and Nesta’s journeys, we see them find their sense of belonging through the friends they make and I think the same is true for Elain as she befriends Nuala and Cerridwen. Elain gets that first spark of joy in her eyes as she bakes bread with them after hitting rock bottom in ACOWAR. I think this moment represents the beginning of Elain’s healing journey in her new home and since then, Elain has come so far as she gains confidence and grows bolder in her fae life. She helps the Velaris residents restore their gardens, cooks and gardens for the Inner Circle, and offers to help her proclaimed court in any way she can. It’s even been foreshadowed that she might be taking stealth lessons from Nuala and Cerridwen.

In this piece, I wanted to show a typical activity I could see Elain doing within her home court. I imagine Elain loves sharing what she creates so Elain, Nuala, and Cerridwen are delivering bread they baked together to people in the community. Sara is so talented and captured the joy I wanted this piece to exude so perfectly! Thank you so much for bringing this to life for me 🩵💗

Please do not repost without permission

@elainarcheronweek

[evermorelore]

˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ 𝒇𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒕

close ups of @wilde-knight's commission I filled for them! credit to them for the phrase "fevered with lust" as an a+ response to Elain's reddened cheeks.

[acourtofthought]

@oristian just received an anon that read the following:

The difference between Elriels, Eluciens, and Gwynriels is that Elriels actually like the characters. We like canon Azriel and Elain and don’t need to assign them other characters’ characteristics or rewrite them. We appreciate the way they have been presented, flaws and all. We are invested in their story thanks to canon, not despite it.

Canon Elain does not wear Illyrian leathers.

Canon Elain does not wear a necklace that she returned to Az therefore unless it's fanart depicting Solstice night and only Solstice night, it's not canon.

Canon Elain does not enjoy wielding a dagger.

Canon Elain does not have tattoos.

Canon Az does not train Elain or take her on spy missions. He didn't even want her searching for the Trove. Canon Az got reprimanded by Amren for not believing in Elain.

Canon Az's shadows do not play with Elain, by his own admission in HIS POV they tend to disappear around her.

Canon Az has not thought of a future with Elain beyond his sexual fantasies.

Canon Elain is NOT "Velaris's Princess" which is a wild thing to say since Velaris already has a QUEEN in Feyre.

Canon Elain would not be fine with Az's torture of defenseless people.

Canon Elain likes sunshine and flowers and is bothered by cruelty.

Canon Elain, despite her proclamation that she's part of the NC and would do what is necessary has the life sucked out of her while wearing NC black.

Canon Elain is different from her sisters, as stated in the books and interviews from the author herself.

Canon Elain is NOT described as being Illyrian at heart the way Nesta was.

Canon Elain, despite Nesta's belief that Elain is doing just fine with her friend and hobbies (something Nesta can only assume from afar considering canon Nesta avoided Elain for a year), confirmed that she has trauma that nobody seems to acknowledge.

Canon Az is connected to the Illyrians and the Valkyrie.

Canon Elain is not.

Canon Elain is connected to Vassa and Koschei through her visions.

Canon Az is not connected to either.

Canon Az did not acknowledge the trauma he heard Elain speak of.

Canon Elain did not acknowledge Az's struggles though she's apparently well aware of how Az was bothered by the scent of her bond.

Canon Az avoided Elain for nearly a year though she never asked him to stay away, though he knew she was fighting with Nesta, though he knew she was mourning the loss of her father.

Canon Az showed yearning for Mor while Elain sat in the room with him.

Canon Az felt something spark in his chest at the thought of another female's happiness.

Canon Az never gave his dagger to another female outside of Elain yet made sure Bryce knew what NESTA did with it during the war.

The ONLY thing that Elucien's and Gwynriels fail to adhere to at this point in time in terms of these characters is who their endgame person will be.

It seems we are the only ones who have a fairly good read on their behaviors, who they are, what's important to them, where they would thrive based on how they've been described and who they would best be suited to.

These are books and just because Elain said, "I'm part of this court and will do what is necessary" it doesn't in fact mean that Elain will forevermore be happiest in the NC and has to live there for the remainder of her immortal life simply because of a statement she made in a book prior to her own POV, a statement she made while still processing her trauma. As readers of books, we are fully aware that many times what a character states while processing trauma is not a true reflection of how they feel.

Not when the author placed that single comment on the floor then continued to build onto another pile of bricks next to it.

One brick being Elain needing sunshine.

One brick being "but Elain wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court....it sucked the life from her."

One brick being Elain missing the flowers in winter.

One brick being that the NC doesn't turn to Elain for help.

One brick being that we're told Elain might be acting a certain way so as not to disappoint her sisters.

One brick being that Elain loses her color in winter.

One brick that the rose necklace given to Elain needs light in order for it's true depth to become visible.

One brick being that Elain is a rose bloom in a mud field filled with trampling horses while Nesta in that same Illyrian camp was a newly forged sword.

One brick being that Elain's scent is "a promise of Spring".

One brick being that "but the spring court had been made for someone like her."

One brick being that the author said Elain took she and Lucien by surprise.

One brick being the author telling us that Elain and Lucien (not Az) are both happiest in nature.

Just because Elain doesn't seem to want Lucien right now doesn't mean that won't change in the next book. Just like who Aelin wanted changed drastically over the course of multiple books. As did Chaol, as did Feyre, as did Nesta (since she didn't seem to want Cassian at different points throughout the series) as did Eva, as did Juliette, as did Elizabeth, as did Claire, as did Violet, as did Sophie, as did Francesca, as did Tessa, as did Harry, as did Katniss (and so on).

Only paying attention to the direct quotes from a character or their behavior while dealing with trauma, thinking they know everything they need to know about them before they've even had a POV doesn't prove they know them better. It simply means they're choosing to ignore that Sarah is the kind of author who leaves crumbs for readers, who often writes her FMC actually wanting the thing that she insists she does not, who often writes her FMC avoiding her destiny before finally embracing it.

E/riels don't like canon Elain or Az more than Eluciens and Gwynriels. They like a one dimensional version of the characters where everything said and done could not have any deeper meaning.

"Az wants to eat out Elain and Elain wants to kiss Az which means they want to be together forever!".

Versus:

"Az and Elain wanted to hook up but it's clear they were both in a bad place and probably not in the right headspace, especially as neither was first willing to discuss the struggles they're both having".

This narrative that we don't like canon Elain, Az, or Gwyn is tiresome. The only thing we don't like is shipping Elain with a guy who the author has clearly written been as someone who, despite his and her willingness to hook up months ago on their timeline, wasn't there for her when she was put into the cauldron, wasn't there for her when she was suffering from severe depression (even drawing straws so he didn't have to stay with her), who never offered her a kind word about the death of her father, who avoided HER for an entire year because he couldn't handle a bond that will always exist, who looked at another female with heat and yearning while she sat in the room with them, who never bothered to check on her after any of her fights with Nesta, who couldn't admit to his best friend that he had any real feelings for her and that he wasn't just looking to get laid, and who hadn't thought of a future with her beyond his sexual fantasies.

All canon events.

[kopfkino-o]

okay modern acotar au but the setting is a shitty local bar and I might or might not have been tipsy when I wrote this.

Rhys inherited this crusty bar from his business tycoon father and, despite being utterly incapable of maintaining a well respectable establishment, he lowkey loves being able to boss the staff around and enjoys the all the “free” booze whenever he wants. No he does not file taxes. But he has given his wife, Feyre, creative reign over the place and she painted the walls herself, which was definitely a choice, but the patrons don’t really seem to mind the various eyeballs staring down at them so it sort of works for the place.

Cassian works security with Jurian but most nights he is the one who ends up starting something and it lowkey causes a lot of insurance liabilities but Rhys isn't really worried about all that. Cas also can’t stop sniffing after veteran bartender, Nesta, who will definitely throw your ass out if you so much as look at her wrong. The tension between them is causing a lot of “bad vibes” for the bar’s regulars, Lucien and Eris, who only come to this shithole establishment to get away from their dad (he’s sleeping on their couch because their mom left him for another man). Tamlin always wants to hangout, especially on open mic nights, but he doesn’t have a car and Eris refuses to drive a few extra minutes to pick him up because he doesn't want "unnecessary mileage" on his 2008 beat to shit BWM.

Elain works the front well because she’s the only one who can use the bar's new POS system and Mor waits tables because she’s a customer favorite (she's comps drinks for literally everyone). But there’s really no need for three bartenders on every shift (the bar gets like five customers, max) and Nesta definitely has that shit handled, so most nights Mor and Elain just sit out back near the dumpsters drinking wine coolers and gossiping. They occasionally upload TikTok videos with Gwyn and Emerie, two waitresses who work at the restaurant next door, but Rhys and Feyre let it slide because it’s good publicity.

Vassa, Tarquin, and Helion occasionally meet up at the bar after work (they work at the pr firm across the street) but only because the drinks are cheap and their asshole boss, Amarantha, thinks the establishment is "below her", so they don't feel obligated to invite her along. Helion has slept with like half the staff, and has some weird thing going on with one of the regular's mom, but he always tips well and at least he's consistent. Once, Tarquin let Cassian borrow his boat so he could take Nesta on a date, but he crashed it into a dock when he was trying to park and it ended up being this whole thing. Amren, the lawyer Feyre hired, has sorta advised the staff to refrain from talking about all that though.

Azriel, the bar manager, smokes cigarettes in the old walk-in cooler (Feyre painted it one night during a staff party) between shifts and wonders how the fuck he ended up being in charge of keeping this trainwreck running. He would have quit the job five years ago but he needs the money and Rhys at least offers half decent health insurance. The bar occasionally gets letters from Beron, the local health inspector who is totally on Rhysand’s case, but Az just throws them away in the raccoon infested dumpster outback (the girls swear they haven’t been feeding them) and yearns for the day this whole shitshow finally gets shut down.

Oh, the baby? Yeah he handles accounting and the shadow monster in the basement is in charge of the social media. don't ask.

[latent-thoughts]

Such a compelling argument it is, that a relationship isn't about mutual choice and love, but about the capacity of a woman (female? because it's the fae?) to birth kids for the guy. Bravo!

I'm a very moderate, ship and let ship type of person, but when I see this argument pop up on my dash, with the op claiming that this is why gwynriel will be canonTM and not elriel, I cannot contain my annoyance. Way to go... to minimize someone to their capacity to bear children.

ALSO: The whole thing about the pliant bones was about Gwyn's body having adapted to the training so well, so quickly. Not about birthing children. The whole thing is just so stupid and illogical. (A normal pelvic girdle shifts during birth anyway, you know. It's not about the bones. It's about the birth canal.)

So please stop reducing these two characters to their 'baby popping' capacity just to justify your ship and hope that it'll be canon. You can do that without the misogyny.

(I'm annoyed at SJM too, for putting this thing about wings and uterus and birthing canal in the books. With no safe c-section available in the ACOTAR world (but shredded wings and spilled guts can be healed within a day? WHAT?) It's ridiculous. It's why we're getting such lovely misogynistic takes in the fandom.)

[starsreminisce]

Elriels: can’t wait till Elriel is confirmed in ACOSF

ACOSF: *sets up Gwynriel*

Azriel’s BC: *shows Az is happiest with Gwyn than Elain*

Elriels: THEYRE NOT GOJNG TO CONFIRM ANYTHING IN A BONUS CHAPTER. LOOK AT HOFAS! ELRIEL WILL DROP A BIG BREADCURMB THERE!!!11!!!

HOFAS: *Gwyn featured because she saw Aidas*

HOFAS: *Gwyn featured because of Merrill and Nesta*

HOFAS: *big Gwynriel crumb*

Elriels: THAT DOESNT COUNT BECUASE OTS NOT A ACTOAR BOOK! GWYN IS NOTHINTBHIT A SIDE CHARACHTER ANYWAY

[infiniteetcetera]

MORE RAPID FIRE ACTOAR HOT TAKES BUT THIS TIME THEYRE 🔥HOT🔥 TAKES

🔥Most people who claim to hate Nesta for what she did to Feyre actually just hate her personality and don’t want to admit it. If she were more like Elain or just generally more kind, open, reserved (✨demure✨ if you will) than she wouldn’t get half as much hate, people just like to hide behind the hunting excuse even when it doesn’t make sense as an expectation. even the characters do this themselves (why Rhys/Cassian/Mor have issues with Nesta but not Elain) because Nesta is strong willed and presents as “strong” on the surface there’s this expectation she should have put her life in danger and been able to hunt while Elain as viewed as “fragile” and therefore it’s not a big deal but the reality is personality does not equal hunting ability and this expectation should have been on none of them.

🔥Cassian is NOT and never has been a himbo/golden retriever guy. Like is he a little dense and theoretically attractive? sure, but one of the big components of both those archetypes is respecting women which he NEVER has. He constantly makes sexist jokes, has treated his LI terribly, and the only woman he shows real respect to is Feyre who is an extension of Rhysand in his mind. he definitely wasn’t as bad in the earlier books as recently but he has never been who his fans characterize him as.

🔥Eris has somehow become massively overhyped😭 I see so many people praise him and cheer him on over/as better than the bat boys and I don’t think they realize they have made up a character for him entirely. At best, Eris falls somewhere in the realm of Rhys in morality. He may be “faking” a lot of the bad things he’s done but he has done them (your boy was utm supporting amarantha just like Rhys & may have tried to stop Lucien from literally getting killed but that’s the bare minimum). I do think he’d have been a better/more interesting love interest for Nesta but that’s just because Cassian set the bar SO low. Most of this man’s interactions with women is calling them derogatory terms he is not perfect and has not shown himself to be above any of the other male characters in his actions.

🔥Of all the mated pairs we’ve been shown in this universe the only two who I think genuinely love/wanted each other is Feyre and Rhys. They are FAR from perfect but the mating bond feels almost inconsequential to the start of their relationship. Feyre doesn’t really know/care about it bc of her human roots and Rhys never wants it to influence her decision and admits more than once it makes him worried she feels like she has to be with him (even after they’re together). Cassian’s opposition to that when Rhys brings it up and the entire way he treats Nesta makes it obvious he just wants a mate (or more precisely, he wants what Rhys has) and Lucien obviously would not have given AF about Elain without the bond. I am not a huge fan of mating bonds in this world in general but Feysand is the only ship where it feels like it’s being done right and more just one aspect of their relationship rather than the reason behind it.

🔥The Valkyries winning the blood rite is not that weird when you spend five minutes actually thinking about it, especially with the fact the bat boys are some of the only other people to do it. Like hmmmm what do these two groups of people have in common that the other Illyrians don’t?

1) Weren’t malnourished, sleeping out in the cold, and probably rife with injuries and sickness for YEARS before the rite

2) Have actual people they can trust with them for at least most of the rite

3) Not dealing with the whole wings being bound thing?? like seriously if they’re so sensitive that’s probably incredibly painful or at least annoying. The girls don’t have to deal with this at all and for the boys Rhys probably didn’t, Az is probably used to it (sobs), so it was just a factor for Cassian

4) Were well looked after, had access to education and information on the rite beyond word of mouth in the camps

My point overall is people tend to forget the Illyrian training camps are literally building child soldiers amongst terrible conditions. You are not fighting 100% or even like 50% of the blood rite, things like being well fed, physically able, and even just having someone who can watch your back while you sleep are so important so it is not surprising at all to me the girls made it while most Illyrians don’t, especially when theyre trained to belive it’s all about going in their to kill and be violent/a warrior (and this all doesn’t even touch on the weapons thing). It’s annoying and borderline sexist so many people complain about this, like just let these girls and their friendship bracelets be winners🤧

🔥Rhys’ trauma is so massively overlooked when people talk about his character/decisions. Not only was he essentially a sex slave for fifty years but Amarantha was also constantly psychologically torturing him all the while being the woman who literally tortured him and killed his friends years prior. To top it off, before Feyre there was literally no end in sight for him??? He couldn’t even hope to die because that would mean his magic couldn’t protect Velaris and his friends??? Even once he escapes the mountain he kind of just has to…move on? ) He doesn’t get any break or trauma therapy, he’s dumped right into it all and he literally doesn’t even tell anyone what happened?? The first time he brings it up to the IC in ACOWAR they’re all stunned to hear him say the words and then he breaks down to Feyre afterwards (literally probably the only person he talks to about what happened). It’s known to everyone including his people what he’s been through and it’s weaponized against him constantly. If he weren’t making bad choices, hurting people around him, and just overall struggling to be a good leader his character wouldn’t be realistic. This isn’t an excuse for every bad thing he’s done, but it’s a reality that most people in his situation wouldn’t do any better and couldn’t even handle being in his spot in the first place. There was a Rhys that existed before this series started and it makes much more sense to believe that guy was the decent male that shines through in some of his scenes with Feyre then to belive he’s always been cruel and evil and all his moments of kindness are just a bit (the evil!Rhys theories will never not be laughable to me, this man bawls in the crowded streets of his city just bc he loves his wife so much, he ain’t plotting evil in his spare time)

🔥The ship wars surrounding next book have gotten so over dramatic😭 most of these couples have barely even interacted on page. I get having preferences and seeing a vision for a pair, I do it too, but people fighting tooth and nail against these ships and swearing they won’t read next book if it’s not what they want are doing the most. Especially when these characters/ships actually…arent that different?? There’s so many similarities between Azriel/Lucien and even Gwyn/Elain, and the only character we know anything about thought/motivation wise is Azriel and even that is barely. I could see any of the pairings working perfectly well or also being written terribly, I think we should all care more about how next love story is written rather than who it’s with because the romance in the last few SJM books have been majorly slacking (Quinlar and Nessian are two of my least favorite ships she’s ever written like she must do better) and no matter who ends up together we probably will see some of the these ships (Elriel/Elucien at least) in a romantic sense before any sort of endgame is decided

[nikethestatue]

I really can't be bothered with most things that happened between the sisters in their cabin.

ACTOAR has been so retconned, so changed, and riddled with so many inconsistencies that it's almost impossible to discuss the book with any degree of logic.

In just a few chapters, we go from Elain being kind of a ding-a-ling, who doesn't pay attention and isn't aware of what is happening around her, to being super perceptive, influential, and managing to convince anyone of anything. She literally gets engaged to the wealthiest Lord's son within like 4 months. That gal ain't a dummy.

Nesta is a heartless bitch who wanted to borderline murder Feyre (for no apparent reason), to being the one who hires a horse and rides all the way to the Wall to attempt to rescue her sister.

We have 4 people being inside a hovel for YEARS, yet 3 of them didn't notice that Feyre couldn't read? Excuse my disbelief.

Not to mention that there hasn't been any explanation of how they all survived and who cared for the house in those 5-6 years. Either they weren't as poor as Feyre made it sound, OR, the sisters took care of the house while she hunted.

You have Nesta and Elain running a huge estate in about 6 months, all by themselves, since their no-goodnik father split and left them, yet Feyre needed to explain to them how to manage their 5 silver coppers when Tamlin came after her? Right....

I think it's time to move on from ACOTAR and forget the BS that SJM wrote in there.

[helion-ism]

Taking into account that we have two more books (acotar 5 and acotar6). What plot do you think each will be focused on? couple + romance + background plot

uff, that’s a good question. thanks for asking me! I once made a post about my ideas actually (romantically). but generally, I’m on board with most of my mutuals here, I think. 

actotar 5:

couple & romance: gwynriel, most likely. everything in acosf is basically leading up to gwyn and azriel falling for each other. now that cc3 is coming next and bryce is going to be spending some time in prythian in the book, I believe sjm will use it to set up the story for actoar 5 even more. the ic may need help of the priestesses, and gwyn having researched a lot for merrill, is going to be included a lot because of her friendship with nesta. she’s also likely the most comfortable out of the library, so that makes her likely to join the ic in dealing with bryce and helping her out (I think, okay, these are all just ideas). I also want gwyn to detect the bond first.

background plot: I really have no thoughts on this. they might be dealing with whatever consequences bryce’s stay had in prythian. maybe another issue gets introduces. who knows. maybe stuff with eris happening? tamlin too? the valkyries ride pegasi. mor helps out? we meet azriel’s mother?

acotar 6:

couple & romance: my sunshines, my babies, my loves, elucien. including a mating ceremony. elain gets the hell out of the night court. visits the summer court, winter (PLEAAAAAASE), spring most definitely, and day ☀️. lucien and elain get to know each other and fall for each other. lucien shows her the world, or as much of it as he can, to be fair. 

background plot: lucien discovers helion is his father. autumn court drama. the lady of autumn gets out. beron dies. eris becomes high lord. tamlin finally gets his shit together. lucien and elain move to the day court and stay there. koschei fucks shit up. maybe bryaxis is being used again and cassian has a final encounter with him before he gets killed or released into another world (lucien discovering the depth of his powers? don’t ask me how this is supposed to work though). lady of autumn and helion are mates. nessian are still happy and thriving. nobody dies (least of all helion fucking spell cleaver) and all is good in the world. 

[gccdstories]

Roleplay History

The rules are simple! Post characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as, and might bring back. Then tag ten people to do the same (if you can’t think of ten, just write down however many you can and tag that number of people). Please repost, don’t reblog!

Muses I RP Currently:

Aleksander Morozova/The Darkling (grishaverse) || @starlsssankt

Rhysand (acotar)

Cassian (acotar)

Azriel (acotar)

Feyre Archeron (acotar)

Nesta Archeron (acotar)

Elain Archeron (acotar)

Amarantha (acotar)

Nyx (actoar)

Ruhn Danaan (cc)

Hunt Athalar (cc)

Bryce Quinlan (cc)

Danika Fendyr (cc)

Baxian (cc)

Lidia Cervos (cc)

Aedion Ashryver (tog)

Alina Starkov (grishaverse)

Baghra (Natalia) Morozova (grishaverse)*

Genya Safin (grishaverse)

Zoya Nazyalensky (grishaverse)

Lara Fruszi (grishaverse)

Ivan [Kaminsky] (grishaverse)

Xaden Riorson (empyrean)

Violet Sorrengail (empyrean)

Rhiannon Matthias (empyrean)

Tairn (empyrean)

Sgaeyl (empyrean)

Andarna (empyrean)

Narcissa Black Malfoy (hp)

Bellatrix Black Lestrange (hp)

Sirius Black (hp)

Remus Lupin (hp)

Penellaphe Balfour Da'Neer (fbaa)

Casteel Da'Neer (fbaa)

Nyktos (f&f)

Alaric Ossinast (the hurricane wars)

Raihn Ashrahj (crowns of nyaxia)

Daemon Targaryen (hotd)

Rhaenyra Targaryen (hotd)

Muses I (Kinda?) Want to Write (that I never have before):

Liam Mairi (empyrean)

Sloane Mairi (empyrean)

Garrick Tavis (empyrean)

Imogen Cardulo (empyrean)

Nikolai Lantsov (grishaverse)

Daenerys Targaryen (got)

Muses I Have Written (in the past):

Lucifer (spn/biblical)

Gabriel (dominion/biblical)

Killian Jones (ouat)

Emma Swan (ouat)

Alice Jones (ouat)

Hope Mikaelson (tvdu)

Klaus Mikaelson (tvdu)

Rebekah Mikaelson (tvdu)

Lizzie Saltzman (tvdu)

Nick (spn)

Sam Winchester (spn)

(And I know there are more, of course. But these are ones that I've written as more than a single-thread and/or had as "official" muses on a blog/multimuse/etc.)

Muses I Would Write Again (maybe?)

Any of my OCs (that barely get off the ground but whatever)

Lucifer

Klaus Mikaelson

Tagged by : @smiletimeisrunningout Tagging : @ anyone who'd like to go down memory lane :)

[f4wnrot]

# 𝐟𝟒𝐰𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐭  :   an  independent    &&   private  multimuse .

 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 && 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬.

ACOTAR:  ( most of my actoar threads will be modern based unless i say otherwise. ) lucien ( @blazedfox. ) elain. azriel. rhysand. feyre. ivorie. ( @unknownfaed )

TOG: aelin galathynius. rowan whitethorn. chaol westfall.

 MISC: persephone. hades. princess aurora. ( modern. ) mamoru chiba. seiya starlighter.

&* if you want to see a muse on here, just ask! if i know the character i'll probably add.

RULES! 

ONE.    

let’s start off with, i’m javiera! i’m 21+, i live in the hottest state ever. it’s central time zone. i’m mostly on monday-friday. i lurk online a lot, so i’m pretty much here all the dang time. i get along with pretty much anyone, i’m super kind. always here for anything. icon border credit goes to @lavenderph with some tweaking.

   TWO.    

my muse is highly private, i will only interact with those whom i follow. if you try and interact with my and i do not follow you, you will be blocked. when it comes to following people, i will give them 72 hours to follow me back then i will be soft blocking them if they choose not to follow me back. i want to keep my dash clean and only follow those that wish to interact with me.

   THREE.    

if i send in memes/chats to plot/etc and you don’t respond to anything for days but see you active/doing other things frequently. (i understand breaks, etc.) i will stop sending them in/reaching out and it’ll result in a soft block.

   FOUR.    

i do this almost every four weeks, something to consider when following me. if we have never interacted in the last 15 weeks, i will be soft blocking. if i send a meme, like a starter call of yours, and i don’t hear back from you, i will be unfollowing you. if you wish to still write with my muse, please like this post so i don’t soft block + unfollow.

   FIVE.    

when is comes to shipping, i'm a total ship whore. i am open to pretty much anything. don't be afraid to come up to me and say you ship our muses together! i probably do as well.  

[exquisitley-obsessed]

Fiancés, Firebirds, Foxes and Fawns: 12

Author: @exquisitley-obsessed

Summary: A few weeks after Briallyn’s attempt at uniting with Koschei, Lucien opens the door of Lockhart Manor to find Elain, cold from the rain and holding a note from the High Lady of the Night Court demanding her to assist Lucien in building alliances with the human councils. Forced to work together by their exhausted High Lord and Lady, Elain is able to convince anyone to do anything, while Lucien has the acquaintances to go anywhere he likes. Together, they attempt to unite the fae and mortal lands and unravel the deal made between Koschei and Vassa, while Lucien remains haunted by his own promise to Elain’s father. ELUCIEN, POST-ACOSF

Pairings: Elain x Lucien, Elucien

Warnings:  slight-NSFW

MY MASTERLIST

THIS FIC’S MASTERLIST

AO3

Chapter Twelve: Day Dreams, Night Terrors

The kiss was short – sweet – merely a brush of their lips before Elain pulled back an inch to meet his eye. Lucien was not even sure it had happened. He had felt a pressure on his mouth but the notion that Elain Archeron had just kissed him seemed to go through one ear and out the other.

Surely not. Surely not.

But she was holding onto his shoulders, looking up at him with such an excited concern that he couldn’t help but feel himself give way. Elain had kissed him, and thus finally, some formality broke down between them. Lucien bowed his head and caught her lips before the moment could be ruined by their own stupidity.

He felt the slight intake of breath his mate took before he brushed his lips against her own, pressing into her with a bit more firmness than she had. The arm resting by his side came up to brush against her delicate jaw, his other hand bracing himself on the tree behind her.

After the first brush, he proceeded with a second, then a third. Then, he was pushing his lips against hers in their first, full-bodied kiss. As he did so, he pressed his fingers against her jaw, tilting her head up and back so that he may have fuller access.

Kissing her was thoughtless. It seemed the most natural thing in the world, and as their lips began to move against one another, Lucien had the feeling that he had done this a thousand times before.

Nothing she did was lost on him. The way her hands shyly dragged from his shoulders to his chest, nor how he could feel the heat of her skin through the thin fabric of his shirt. The way she still had to stand some-what on her tiptoes to reach him. Each delicate noise that left her mouth, the fragile gasps to the high hums – he noticed it all.

He could’ve done it forever. He could’ve stayed within this moment till the stars went out one by one and the world was nothing but dust and ash. The warmth spreading through his chest was golden and warm, and felt like the light of a thousand suns and Lucien swore he could feel pure love racing through his veins.

Except in some way, it was stronger than love. It was the feeling of the glory of fate – the feeling of finding a home.

Lucien was just about to take his tongue and taste her when he felt the kiss come to a natural end. Even though he’d never admit it, even after that chaste embrace, he felt as though he needed a break. There was so much emotion raging within him as he reached a peak of happiness he had not experienced in a long time, perhaps ever.

Slowly, torturously, he pulled his lips back as he rested his forehead against hers. In the kiss, their bodies had moved closer together, and he felt her leg slotted between his own, their chests touching as well as their souls.

For a few laboured moments, all that could be heard between them were their heavy, shared breaths. At least until Lucien couldn’t take it any longer and pulling back, he looked at her, as it was his favourite thing to do. His mate kept her eyes closed as she seemed to focus on her breath, her hands having come to gently hold the wrist of the one hand holding her jaw.

She was everything to him. From the first time, he’d laid eyes on her to this moment, to every one in between. She was everything to him, she was his purpose.

His breath. His sword. His home. His heart.

Though this exhilarated him to some degree he was not necessarily scared, for he knew as long as he ventured down this path with her hand in his, it would all make perfect sense.

Finally, Elain opened her eyes and looked at him with curiosity and hope. The timid doe coming to trust the crafty fox.

“Will you still gift me the moon?” Lucien laughed, loud and bright, before quickly lowering his head to catch her lips with his.

“I will bring you every star in the sky,” Lucien murmured against her lips. “And if they do not shine bright enough for you, then I shall kill the Gods themselves for having displeased you.”

He heard Elain’s delicate gasp of breath and continued to kiss her for several more moments, unable to stop himself as he slowly got drunk on the feeling of her touch and the sound of her sighs. Slowly and with remorse, Lucien pulled back a second time, both his hands now against her jaw, holding her to himself.

Elain took several breaths, simply looking at him before she sighed, “I don’t deserve you.”

“Shut up,” Lucien said plainly, lowering his head.

“But-” Elain protested.

“Just shut up.”

This time Lucien bent and pressed his lips against the soft, golden plain of her neck. A small sound escaped his mate, something akin to a whimper and he groaned in response as his body reacted to the sound.

Slowly, so that his mate would feel every touch of his lips, Lucien left a trail of burning kisses downwards to the sweetest, most intimate crook of her neck, where he burrowed his nose and lips. He kissed her there for several moments, feeling her squirm and listening to her whimper before he sucked the skin taut. There was some feral, beastly part of himself that wanted nothing more than to mark her perfect skin, not in a way that hurt, but just enough that he may lay claim to her – that he may mark her as his.

“Lucien-” Elain gasped, her hands burrowing themselves in his hair. Lucien continued, kissing along her shoulder to the strap of her dress.

His instinct was to slowly drop the strap off her shoulder so that it would leave a trail of goosebumps, but he hesitated when he reached the fabric. If Lucien began to undress Elain, in the state they were both in, there would be no stopping them.

“We should stop.” Lucien finally concluded, placing one final kiss on her collarbone before standing straight and yet, not moving away.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Elain flushed, her eyes skirting away from his. A jolt of anger coursed through him. Because she shouldn’t be apologising, and he knew exactly who was to blame for her feeling like she must.

“Don’t apologise, ‘Lainy,” Lucien husked, reaching and taking her hand and bringing her knuckles to his mouth. She turned back and watched him with wide eyes. “I’m only stopping because-” Lucien took her hand and wrapped it around the side of his neck. “-when I have you I want you lain out on silken sheets in a heavily warded room, in which no one can hear the things I’ll do to you, nor the filthy things I say.”

Elain seemed to only stare at him, her beautiful brown eyes wide and alarmed and yet, he could read the excitement there.

“Oh…right…okay…” Elain eventually stuttered, and a beautiful blush began across her cheeks and nose.

Lucien had another urge to kiss her.

“Do you, um, do you want to talk about…” Lucien said, slightly bashfully. Again, he thought of Tamlin poking fun at him at the sight of Lucien tripping on his tongue around a female. It was unheard of, he was the silver-tongued fox, infamous for making others blush and yet there never being a crack in his mask – literally.

“No,” Elain surprised Lucien by shaking her head, “We’ve both said a lot today I think…I think this is just nice for now.” Lucien nodded.

“I’m sorry, by the way. Some of the things I said…”

“Me too…”

They shared another look and Lucien, again, really wanted to kiss her. Though really, that wasn’t a new feeling.

They stood like that for a while, merely just absorbing the moment – the sound of the water gushing in the river, the melodies of the numerous birds, hidden in the trees. The feeling of one another, of the fingers and thumbs brushing strands of hair away from foreheads and skirting along the columns of throats.

It was like existing within a melody, or a beautiful painting. Together, in this moment, they were art – who could blame them for wanting to stay a little while.

Eventually, Lucien stepped back, but not without extending his hand which Elain took immediately. Together, they walked to the lip of the water, their intertwined fingers swinging shyly between them. They were both so elated over the small staple of intimacy and yet, it was unusual and foreign, at least for now.

“We got a little, ahem, distracted but that was some seriously good winnowing.” Lucien smiled down at her, his thumb brushing over the back of her hand.

“Really?” The excitement in her eyes made his heart ache.

“Yes! Of course, it normally takes fae years to accomplish winnowing a few feet but, I assumed you’d be more skilled than most.”

“Really…I…I wouldn’t think anyone thought that of me,” Elain said shyly, looking down at the water where little orange fish were swimming in circles deep below the furious gushing.

“I’ve always thought that of you,” Lucien said in a stern enough voice that no one could mistake his words for anything but the truth. And it was, true, he’d always known of her talent.

He’d always seen her, even when he could not speak to her.

Just then, Elain’s stomach growled loudly, and an adorably mortified expression came onto her features as her free hand slapped over her stomach.

“Oh, my Mother!” She gasped, her cheeks flushing even redder.

Lucien just tilted his head back laughing. The fact Elain still cared about appearing as a Lady even after their rather improper embrace against a tree trunk delighted him to no end.

“Hungry?” Lucien grinned down at her, to which she slapped at his chest playfully.

“Breakfast was a long time ago,” she huffed, though she was still smiling. Suddenly, Lucien remembered something. Turning away from the lip of the water, Lucien looked back to the tree in which they had just been braced against.

“What?” Elain hummed.

“I just want to check something,” Lucien tugged her along. Now that he had her hand in hers, he wasn’t going to dare let go.

After a moment of quiet assessment, Lucien realised he was right. The tree – their tree – bore fruit. They were little round purple baubles, about the size of Elain’s fist. The tree was centuries old, and the lowest fruit was far too far for Elain, but Lucien could reach it no problem.

Reaching up, Lucien plucked two before looking at the fruit in his hand.

“I’m not sure if they’re safe to eat,” he murmured, “I’ll have one first and then, y’know, if I’m still alive it should be okay.” Elain just tipped her head back and laughed.

“Lucien…they’re figs!” Lucien merely glared down at the suspicious fruit. Elain just laughed loudly. “They’re fine, I promise.”

Elain smiled; she took one of the figs out of his hand. She then removed the hand that was holding Lucien’s, he went to complain until she turned and began to slide her hand into his pocket. It was Lucien’s turn for his breath to catch in his throat as her small hand rubbed against his upper thigh. His mouth went dry, and he had absolutely no idea what was happening until she pulled his small knife out of his pocket, the one he’d been using on the apple.

She proceeded to carve into the Fig, cutting it into several pieces. Pocketing the knife, she held out a slice to Lucien. For a moment, Lucien was stunned that she would offer him a piece before feeding herself, and then he was shocked at the fact she was offering him food. Despite his heart galloping into an elevated pace, Lucien knew that Elain’s mind must’ve skipped the whole ‘food means an accepted bond’ fae custom. It was only when Lucien did not immediately take the fruit that Elain’s eyes widened as she realised what she was doing.

“I’d rather not,” Lucien said quickly, with a surprising amount of ease, “Human food is barely tolerable as it is, I can’t imagine their fruit is much better.”

Elain nodded at him, her eyes still on the piece of fruit. And just like that they were once more confronted by the endless complications of their relationship, the weight that had been placed on them before they’d even had a chance to properly introduce themselves.

Lucien shoved it all to the side. He didn’t care. Elain had kissed him today – that was enough to give him enough hope for a lifetime.

“Eat,” he nodded at the fruit. There was something about his mate being hungry that was making his skin itch, it was like an overwhelming urge to go out hunting or something despite there being a warm meal waiting for them the minute they got back.

It was a need to provide and care for, and Lucien didn’t mind it one bit.

He watched as she wrapped her lips around the inner part of the fruit which was pink with yellow seeds. Slowly, she both bit and sucked on the fruit, the flesh coming away easily into her mouth. Lucien swallowed thickly, his body responding eagerly to the sight of her fruit-stained lips.

Elain met his eye instinctively, as though she could hear his thoughts, and he watched as her eyes lapped into a darker shade of brown.

“We should head back,” Lucien husked, in a pained voice.

“Good idea,” she said, dryly.

***

Lucien had winnowed the two of them back to the front door, holding her hand the entire time. It was only when they entered the foyer did Lucien agree to part with her as Elain wished to change her dress before they ate.

After she’d disappeared upstairs he’d stood waiting by the window with a glass of whiskey, trying to not picture Elain pulling off her white dress, nor her getting into the bath and lathering herself in soap and running a damp rag across her skin.

She’d looked better today, he’d decided. Out there in the sun, throwing her hair into a bun as she focused and worked. The sweat making her skin glisten, the heat making her cheeks flush. He’d practically watched as she browned slightly over the course of their lesson, freckles popping up in clusters along her arms.

Gods, she was beautiful.

It seemed to be the most recurring thought in his mind these days. But she truly was the most beautiful creature he’d ever beheld, and she only seemed to grow in splendour. There were times where he wished he were a painter, just so he may be able to capture her essence. When something exists as magnificent as that, sometimes all you want to do is reflect it in your own creations.

Lucien was impatient as he stood, but merely because everything around him now reminded him of her.

Looking out the window he could see the gardens with her Honeysuckle mountains near the stone walls. The breeze made him think of how her hair danced in the wind. The distant birdsong reminded him of her laugh. The warmth of the sun on his skin made him think of her hands, splayed across his chest.

Then there was the kiss.

Gods, that kiss.

He hadn’t been expecting it, to say the least. Whilst he knew that there remained an ocean between them in terms of complications, the waters didn’t look so murky anymore. They were bright and clear, and through the glassy aquamarine, Lucien could see all kinds of thriving life.

The bond was satiated and strangely, silent between his ribs. Where there used to be an agonising, dull tautness was now a feeling of relaxation and comfort. He could still feel the string, leading upwards to where Elain – his mate – was changing, but it seemed to float in the air rather than bind.

Footsteps pushed Lucien to down his whiskey, setting the glass on the windowsill as he turned back to watch his mate enter the room.

Gods, something had changed between them, because she had never looked so impossibly lovely.

The dress was an amethyst cream chiffon that floated around her, making her look as though she had truly descended from the heavens. Her hair was unleashed, slightly wild with the head.

He was right, she was tanner, and there were a few freckles now clustered across her nose. Gods she was…

She was…

“Perfect,” he hadn’t meant to say it, and it truly only came out as a whisper, but Elain’s cheeks flushed a dusty pink as her fingers began to twist together in front of her dress.

Lucien cleared his throat before walking over to their usual dining table, Elain followed close behind and Lucien promptly pulled back a chair for her to sit. Elain gave him a shy, pleased look as she sank into the chair, to which Lucien winked with a smirk as he circled and sat opposite her.

Within seconds food was placed in front of them with a bustle of maids and cooks. Lucien felt Elain watching him as he avidly chatted with several of the maids and even the chef. He’d taken a liking to the residents, and he couldn’t help but feel rather in his element as he smiled and made friendly chat.

Though, he truly wished to only talk to one person and eventually, his patience ran out as he softly sent the maids away and turned to his mate.

“Sorry, I often get carried away with talking,” he said, rather shyly as he dug in.

“No, I…I like it,” her voice was butter and honey, and it was making him melt.

“Well, the skill of having a loose jaw is not always a blessing, at least not in the fae world.” He grinned before tapping his ruined cheek with the handle of his fork. Elain’s brows furrowed slightly, as her eyes drifted across his scar and eye.

Not for the first time, Lucien felt a wave of self-consciousness run over him. It was strange to think that he himself was not yet used to having the scar, given that shortly after he received it, Aramantha had bound that horrid mask to his face.

He guessed he was over it now but, being fae is difficult for this exact reason. As Lucien had only been scared for a small portion of his life and before that he’d had centuries of being known as the most handsome son of Autumn. What he had lacked in martial prospects he had made up for in aesthetic. With his consistently tan skin and healthy, long hair, he’d caught the eye of many fae. Where all his brothers were pale with soft features, Lucien was tall and dark with a large, sharp nose and strong, angled brows.

Before Aramantha or Tamlin, or even Jes, Lucien had often been the talk of the Court. For he had rarely taken lovers, and many wondered what it would take for him to wish to bed you.

Though, after the tragedy of Jes, in his early days as Spring Emissary, he had been going through fae at a pace that some said put Helion to shame. His days of being compared to the High Lord of Day continued into his scarred days and even when he had the mask – but by then, sex was not merely an extension of being the most handsome son of Autumn, but rather Lucien trying to prove to himself that he had not changed.

That he was still…him.

“Do you like it?” Lucien said after a few moments of silence. He was expecting Elain’s eyes to shyly flick away from where they’d been tracing his scar, but instead, she merely tilted her head.

“Liking scars seems a difficult concept,” she merely responded.

“Oh? How so?”

“I do not wish for such an awful thing to have happened to you,” Elain pushed a few things around on her plate, “But, and maybe it’s terrible of me, I can’t deny that I think your scar makes you look indefinitely more handsome.”

That…he was not expecting,

“Oh?” He husked after a second. Elain paused her eating to meet him dead in the eye.

“You look magical,” was all she said, and Lucien felt his heart shudder. “Like everything I shouldn’t want…but everything that I ultimately do….”

A heavy silence fell between them, both of them pausing in their eating as they made eye contact. It was almost as though now that they had kissed, the pre-existing tension was now insufferable.

As Lucien looked at her, the world fell away, and he was utterly consumed by the sight of her. Again, all he could think about were the things he wanted to do with her. Images flooded his mind, of taking her up against the wall, of spreading her on this table. He was aching just to feel her skin against his, to feel her warmth and to hear her sighs. He wanted nothing more than to hike up her endless skirts and find purchase in her folds. The idea of slipping a finger into her had his pants uncomfortably tight.

“Spring?” Elain said, breaking Lucien’s chain of thought and causing his mind to temporarily stutter.

“Spring – oh – spring, yes,” Lucien took a long drink, “I’m leaving to head to Spring, and I’d like for you to join me.”

“I’d love to,” she said without hesitation. Lucien merely grinned at her as he nodded, turning back to his food.

“You’ll like spring, I just know it.”

***

It was a vision, or a dream.

The experience was familiar by this point – the feeling of the world being tangible and yet distant, as though everything were real but you, as the viewer, were merely a ghost. Elain could feel her presence there in the world, taking up a certain kind of space, and yet she felt forgotten by the atoms themselves.

It was a dark room, cold with the overwhelming air of loneliness. Elain could see walls made of wood and stone with windows up high near the ceiling which allowed columns of moonlight to pass through. These bands of silver shadows gave way to very little. There were some general shapes of furniture, wooden chairs and bookshelves, but the large stone columns that ran the length of the room and made everything seem smaller and more complicated.

She was sitting in a rather uncomfortable chair, and before her was a stone pillar that had been cut in half so that it came to her waist. It seemed to be an altar, and two beams of moonlight met from opposite sides of the room to light it up, the stone almost glowing. Upon the rocky surface was a single copper pin which, upon further inspection, Elain recognised as a hairpin.

Footsteps made her jerk with shock, the first sign of life in the seemingly dead building. The steps came from behind and echoed through the empty room, ringing back into her ears. Elain went to turn around but found that her body would not obey her, whether this was due to it being a vision or the fact she had been bound, she could not tell.

The footsteps neared in a slow, torturous pace that was full of cockiness – a person who knew they had power. Elain could only sit and listen as they approached, eyes roving over the room, trying to take in all that she could see.

Eventually, the being came to a stop directly behind her and Elain felt the thrumming magic that came from their presence. The magic’s strength washed over her like a fog, and it felt strangely familiar.

“As I was saying,” the being spoke. The voice was low, deeper than any Elain had heard before, even the Illyrians did not compare.

“The mind, particularly one like yours, is a weapon. It simply begs to be sharped…wielded…” The voice spoke with the casual certainty of an aged teacher. Elain, for some reason, was still focused on the hairpin. It was old, older than her and older than any building she’d ever stepped foot in – she suspected it was even older than Prythian.

“You have no idea what you can do, and it’s so frustrating to see the way peasants of this world have treated you.”

Elain’s mind was running a mile a minute. This could not be a dream then; it must be a vision – an insight of what was to come. But where was she? Who was this person? How did she get here and how would she get out?

“They’ve taught you so many terribly inaccurate things, much of our time together will be spent undoing the poisoned seeds they sowed.” Elain didn’t know who this ‘they’ was that the voice spoke of, but his voice had somehow turned even more deadly and frightening at their mention.

Elain then heard the dragging of wood on stone before there was the clatter of a chair being settled behind her to which she heard the being flop into with a gust of wind – or rather, dust.

It was then that hands came around her and ran from her upper arms down to her hands.

Looking down, Elain saw skin of truest grey with white scars that were reminiscent of lightning covering every inch of exposed skin. The being’s arms were powerful, around three times the size of Elain’s now seemingly dainty, pale hands. The being then wrapped his own hands around hers, his chest pressing into her back. He then tucked his head into the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply.

“Your mind is not broken, Elain,” the being whispered in her ear. His voice now dark, seductive, full of a thousand promises she knew he’d do good on. “I often wonder how you must feel, to go from feeling so worthless to discovering you’re the most valuable being to exist, perhaps ever.” Another deep inhale paused the creature in his speech. “When the world discovers just who you are, there will be people carving themselves up in the streets for a single hair from your head. They will make relics of your clothes. Holidays out of your achievements.”

The hands began to intertwine with hers, grey meeting ivory, twisting like a wreath.

“A part of you has always known.” He was amused, and she felt his lips brush against the shell of her ear. “You knew you there was something so much bigger than any of them running through your blood, that’s why you let them play without you, why you stayed in the gardens where no one could worry. But you’re more powerful than that silly little High Lord of stars and his mutant wife – your sister, of course. The only one who ever came close was that other sister of yours, Lady Death, though she foolishly bargained her gift, she will come to reject that choice, though, you already knew that.”

Elain did. Nesta would never admit to herself, but Elain had seen Nesta glaring at the mirror, wondering how much of a mutant she was to wish she’d kept the flames of ice. Because getting rid of her powers hadn’t gotten rid of the shadow of death that had marred her since birth. In the end, Nesta had run from the darkest part of herself rather than harnessing it.

“I won’t let you make the same mistake.” His voice was abruptly inside her head, a painful invasion, a reminder of what he could do and what he could take. His hands unentwined from her own and those long fingers wrapped themselves around her wrists. Elain only watched as his large, grey hands formed perfect cuffs around her now dainty wrists, and he squeezed with a threatening promise. She was manacled.

Elain went to beg him to stop but then the rush of power hit and she felt her head loll against his shoulder, her mouth parting as a wanton moan tore from her lips. The magic was ecstasy, a pure rush of power and possibility. Elain could feel it courses through her blood, pounding around her body turning her skin alive and electric – just like he had.

The thought of him caused Elain to struggle against the magic but the figure only tightened his grip. Elain could taste his annoyance in the air.

“What is it you want?” It was the first thing she’d said, and to Elain’s surprise, her voice was steady, calm, entirely satiated. The magic continued to course through her, lighting her up from within. It was beautiful, and it was so, so cursed.

The being’s lips returned to her ear, and she felt his tongue once more trace the shape, as though he were trying to memorise her. He stiffened behind her, his entire figure turning rigid as his grip on her wrists turned excruciating.

“I want him dead.” The voice was deadly, cruel, otherworldly – familiar.

Pain exploded within her in the form of black fire.

***

Elain lurched awake, her hands slamming into her chest as she tried to extinguish the fire within. It took several moments of her thrashing in her vacant sheets before she realised that it had not been real – or, at least not tangible.

The black fire she had felt was phantom, a ghost of pain that had brushed through her body via her mind. That…had not felt like a vision. Or, perhaps, she merely not understand the capacity of her powers.

It had felt so real. She had been there, in that dark room looking at that hairpin as that being had taunted her. It had not felt so much of a vision as an invasion. It had felt as though someone had poured something foreign into her brain and she’d temporarily been infected.

Elain shuddered and was up and out of bed before she could think of somewhere to go or something to do. There was a whispering in her mind, a murmuring of a name that she dare not think, and she strongly wished for silence.

But, as it so often did, her mind betrayed her as she went back to the ‘vision’. She hadn’t been afraid of him – the being with grey, mottled skin – as much as she was afraid of the things he had said. The simple statements of her power to which he believed her to have plenty.

More power than Rhysand, more than Feyre. Then there were the visions of Nesta, regretting her choice, regretting saving Feyre, Rhysand and Nyx and giving up her powers. None of it made sense, none of it worked in the world that she thought she knew.

Shivering, Elain blinked to realise that she’d walked over to her closet and pulled out Lucien’s jacket. It was not the one he had given her last night when he had cocooned her in his riding jacket before carrying her to bed. Instead, his one was a deep green with brown lining. There were seven pockets in total, all of them empty bar the one that had contained several flower heads that had long since dried and turned to dust – they had been yellow carnations. The lining was of silk, not just any silk Elain realised, but Didache, the fabric from Autumn. It was fraying at the seams which told her it had been worn lots, loved much, and yet the owner had not cared enough about the jacket or themself to fix it. There was a distressing along the cuffs in which Elain could imagine worried fingers constantly curling and plucking at the seams.

It was the jacket Elain had been wrapped in after the Cauldron, and it was perhaps her only tether to the world those first few days after. Nothing could get through to her, not the angry screams of her sister or the comforting talks from her brother-in-law. Just this rag of fabric that smelt like a home Elain had never been to.

He’d been with her even then, Elain supposed.

It’s funny, she thought, even when I was completely lost, I always had him.

Tugging the jacket on, Elain was able to return to her sheets and curl up into a ball. Around her hung both the scent of him and her. His jacket having been worn by her on many sleepless nights.

The scent wasn’t just his or hers, it was theirs.

Rolling onto her side Elain took what she had seen and pushed it to the back of her mind, imaging herself locking the thought away in a box and burying it under sand. With every spade, the memory receded until her brain was quiet enough for her to slip soundlessly into sleep.

In this distance, under the moon, a firebird screamed in agony.

[acourtofthought]

I just think both Azriel and Lucien are the kind who would be willing to beg on their knees for a taste but the difference is Elain wouldn't want a guy to beg whereas Gwyn would tell him he can stay down there a bit longer like the good boy he is.

Elain wants a Dom and Gwyn is a Dom.

Lucien seems like the kind of guy who while wanting to be respectful still secretly wants the go ahead to finally let go of his control and Az seems like the kind of guy who wants to be under someone's control.

[iambutmortal]

What Doesn’t Kill Me Makes Me Want You More

@elainarcheronweek Day 5: Travel & Adventure 

An infinitely massive thank yous to @tired-potter​​ for beta reading

Summary: Something’s calling Elain out of the night court. On Calanmai, she finds what she’s been looking for.

Pairing: Elucien

Word Count: 2.6k

Content Warning: Dubious Consent, Monster Penis

Something was calling Elain away from the Night Court.

She knew she should be happy in Valaris. Knew she should enjoy life with her sisters and their friends, her new family. But no matter how much she tried, no matter how much she worked in the garden or the kitchen, she always felt like she was missing something.

She was probably just lonely, Elain told herself, when she watched her sisters wrapped up with their mates. She wanted what they have, wanted to know if the cauldron had dared give her a mate.

But then she would wake up in the middle of the night, clothes sticking to her with sweat from the nightmares, and she knew it was something else. 

The flashes of red hair that seemed to taunt her, the glimpse of a golden eye, a scar cutting through an auburn brow. She didn’t know who the man was, only that he seemed to be calling to her, seemed to be a part of that pull that tugged her away.

It was that tug that led her up to the house of wind. Helion was coming to visit from Day, and Elain longed to actually talk to someone who lived outside the Night Court. She climbed up those 10 thousand stairs, unwilling to ask anyone to fly her up there. Going herself seemed important somehow, like staking a claim.

Dinner had already been served when she arrived, flushed and out of breath.

“So this is the famed Elain Archeron,” Helion said, rising to his feet the second he saw her.

Elain took him in, the dark skin and golden crown, and took an unconscious step forward. She knew that nose, that smile, just in a slightly lighter hue. Saw it in her dreams.

“Elain, Helion,” Feyre introduced from her seat at the head of the table. “Unfortunately, his son was too preoccupied to join us.” Feyre aimed that line at Helion, a pointed dig.

“Lucien’s been holed up in the library trying to find a way to break Vassa’s curse,” Helion replied easily.

Lucien, Helion’s mysterious son. Elain had never met him, had only heard of him from Feyre’s brief mentions. He’d been staying with Tamlin while Amarantah ruled, had worked to break the curse before returning to Day.

“Tell him that I miss him,” Feyre said. “And that he works too hard.”

Helion’s laugh was a deep, rich sound. “You’ll get no complaints from me, cursebreaker. Why do you think I’m taking Calanmai off this year?”

“You, giving up a chance at an orgy, I’m shocked,” Feyre teased.

“I have to let Lucien have his fun. Besides, sometimes it’s better to partake when you’re not a ravenous beast.” He sent a wink Feyre’s way and Elain’s face heated. She had no desire to know of her sister’s plans for tomorrow night.

Feyre smirked. “The Court of Nightmares is always open to you, if you get bored.”

Helion winked. “I’m sure the Lady of Day will keep me occupied, but I thank you for the offer.”

Calanmai saw Elain dressed in a tight fitting black dress, the skirts spilling out around her even as a slit in the front ran from the floor up to where her leg met her hips. She felt exposed, practically naked in front of so many eyes. Feyre had assured her she looked fine, was dressed for the occasion.

Elain hadn’t been sure how to tell her she had no interest in watching Rhys fuck her on the throne.

Her feeling of discomfort only seemed to be amplified when the drums started. She felt like she was going to come out of her skin, something seemed to be pulling, tugging her out of that dark mountain.

She looked over at Feyre, already grinding in Rhys’ lap, and made a decision. No one would miss her if she left for the night, she doubted they wouldn’t even notice she was gone.

So Elain took off down the long corridors, practically running until she felt the cold night air on her skin. There was a cord wrapped around her ribs that seemed to be leading her, taking her into the woods.

Elain didn’t know where she was going, didn’t know where she would end up. But the idea of stopping made her physically ill. She could still hear the drums pounding away in her head, but as she walked, she was half convinced they were a heartbeat instead.

The forest itself seemed to change, the dark overhang lightening, the trees themselves looking more golden in the moonlight.

Elain was half tempted to turn around, to go back and ignore that pull, when she saw it. Or rather him, if what was dangling between the beast’s hind legs was any indication.

She could’ve convinced herself he was just a fox, if foxes were the size of small horses, had it not been for the eagle claws sprouting from his front legs and ginormous, feathered wings pinned tightly to his side.

The beast turned to look at her, his eyes, one russet and one golden, staring her down. Elain stared back, taking in the blood stained teeth and claws. A dead stag lay at his feet, savagely ripped apart.

The fae, for it must’ve been some fae creature, cocked his head to the side. That small movement seemed to break Elain out of her trace and she ran, slippered feet sliding on the soft ground.

She could hear the beast racing behind her, the sound of rustling leaves as his large frame brushed against low hanging branches.

In the distance, she could just make out the border, the point where the forest became distinctly darker, soaked in starlight. If she could just make it there, she could get help, would be free.

Claws dug into her back and Elain went sprawling, her face landing in the leaves. Elain twisted, trying to escape the clutch of the talons currently cutting into her shoulder. She kicked out wildly, hoping against all odds she could beat the beast off.

By some miracle, Elain’s foot hit something solid. The talons loosened their grip, the creature reeling back. Elain rolled onto her back, looking up at the white fur of the fae’s underbelly. 

She tried to scamper back, to get out from between those muscular forelimbs.

The monster shook his great head, snarling down at her.

“Please,” Elain begged, knowing there was no way he could understand her. “Let me go.”

In response, the beast placed one of those eagle talons on her waist, pinning her down. The pressure was enough that Elain knew if she tried to escape, he could snap ribs, but not so much as to be overly painful.

His nose pressed down, in the space between her breasts and he sniffed down the length of her body. Elain glanced down, swallowing thickly when she realized her struggle had caused her skirts to bunch up around her hips, leaving her legs bare.

He had made it to that cursed slit, the cold wet of his nose causing goosebumps to prick along her skin.

Unconsciously, Elain tried to squirm away, to stop him from finding what lay just above that spot.

The pressure of the claw increased, the tallons pressing uncomfortably against her skin. Elain forced herself to settle, lying back against the forest floor and squeezing her eyes closed.

And then the beast found it, nudged against the bundle of nerves at the apex of Elain’s thighs. And Cauldron damn her, but Elain lifted her hips, pressed up against that sensation. She couldn’t help it, was too shocked at the unfamiliar feeling.

From between her legs, those mismatched eyes met her, understanding seeming to flash in them. 

“Please,” Elain begged, not quite sure if she was asking to be released, or for him to do it again.

A low whine escaped from the monster, and then he was licking a long stripe up her cunt. His tongue was rough, the friction bordering on painful.

Elain screamed, her cries only seeming to spur him on as the beast continued to lick and nuzzle her folds. Elain could feel herself growing wet, her body’s reaction to such thorough attention.

Throughout it all, the wild creature above her continued to whine, almost pitiful sounds emerging from deep in his throat.

At some point, Elain gave up fighting it, let her body lie limp, wrung out with pleasure. Whatever type of fae was currently licking her clearly was in no hurry, was seemingly content to eat her out like his life depended on it.

It was only when Elain was practically sobbing, unable to take any more of that steady pressure, that his rough tongue finally found her entrance, entered her for the first time.

And Elain broke, pleasure crashing through her. She withered against him, trying in vain to drive him deeper, to feel more.

“Please,” Elain begged again. And again, she was ignored. The beast rode her through her high, licking until she couldn’t take it any more, was actually sobbing.

It was only then that he relented, lifting that taloned leg off her chest. 

Elain managed to sit up, muscles weak and shaky. The monster was standing several feet away, staring at her. He didn’t move, holding himself with unnatural stillness and Elain slowly rose to her feet. Elain took half a step back, towards that border between the courts. 

The beast snarled in response, baring sharp white teeth, now freed of blood. Elain didn’t want to think about what had cleaned them off, how she’d helped.

Still, she took another half step back. The monster lunged, its head aiming for the space between her thighs.

Elain shrieked as he used his momentum to throw her over his back, her head landing by his long tail. Those great wings were flapping, lifting them off the ground. They flew away from the forest floor, high over the trees. Elain squeezed her eyes shut, wrapping her arms tightly around the beast’s torso, ignoring how close her hands were to his swollen member.

She didn’t know how long they were in the air, how far away he was taking her from Valaris. Well, you wanted to leave, Elain told herself, close to hysterics.

And then they were touching down, landing on solid ground. Elain slid off the beast’s body, hitting the sandy ground with a soft thump.

She peered around, realized they were on a cliff ledge somewhere, perched on a narrow ledge between the sheer rock face and the edge.

The beast started walking, sliding his body between a narrow crack in the rock wall. Elain glanced down, swallowing thickly when she saw that the trees below were nothing but a green canopy, too far below to make out any details.

She stood and followed the beast.

He was waiting for her, pacing back and forth in front of a lit fire. His head turned to stare at her, and Elain could’ve sworn he looked nervous. It was an expression so human, so indicative of intelligence that it startled her.

Slowly, she inched closer, one hand outstretched. The beast held still, letting her approach at her own pace. Her fingers lightly brushed over his head, and the stillness was broken, the beast bumping against her hand.

His fur was soft, surprisingly silky, and Elain buried her fingers in it. The beast seemed to be purring, a deep rumbling in his chest Elain could feel in her bones, even as his cock seemed to grow harder.

A sickening realization struck her, as she looked at the fire. She’d seen this set up, had just left a party for the same purpose.

“Lucien?” she asked.

The beast—no Lucien—pressed his head harder against her hand, his eyelids fluttering.

“Oh,” Elain whispered. “Am I the maiden?”

In response, Lucien’s nose returned to that damned slit in her dress. Elain spread her legs, letting him snuff her dripping pussy, still slick from her orgasm.

Elain thought he would return to that licking, was almost looking forward to it. But instead, Lucien pressed his head against her hips, forcing her down to the ground. He climbed back on top of her, and Elain realized a second too late what he was planning.

“Wait,” Elain pleaded, even as he lined up the head of his cock with her slick folds. She was sure it wasn’t going to fit, he dwarfed Graysen’s and that had already been painful at first.

Lucien didn’t listen, entered her with one mighty thrust. Elain screamed, sure she was going to split in two. Lucien rutted into her, sliding in and out of her body, aided by her slick. Elain lay on the ground, panting, unable to move. Whether she wanted to get away or to meet his hips, she didn’t know.

The soft fur of Lucien’s underbelly brushed against her clit, and she felt pressure start to build. The pain was fading, giving way to pleasure and she managed to lift her hips slightly, allowing Lucien to enter deeper.

The tip of his cock grazed a spot on her inner walls that had her seeing stars, and Elain cried out, any discomfort forgotten.

Lucien moved faster, pounding into her with a messy rhythm, hitting that spot again and again.

Elain came apart, ecstasy washing over her. Lucien followed her with a howl, pumped thick ropes of cum into her eager pussy, some of it spilling out onto the cave floor.

Lucien held himself over her, tongue lolling out as he panted. It was only after he was spent that he removed his softening cock and, with a flash of light, transformed into a high fae.

Here was the male Elain saw in her dreams, that long red hair and strong jawline.

He collapsed on his side next to her, breathing heavily. 

“I’m so sorry,” he said, russet eye wide with panic. “I shouldn’t have done that, I had just killed the stag and I saw you and the magic wouldn’t let me transform and…” he trailed of weakly, even as he scanned her face, looking for any sign of discomfort.

And then Elain felt it, that golden thread wrapped around her heart that reached out to him.

“You’re my mate,” Elain whispered, sitting up.

Lucien recoiled in shock, and Elain heard his heart’s rapid pounding in his chest.

“We may need to come up with a better story to tell our families how we met,” Lucien said after a minute.

Despite the situation, Elain laughed, earning her a dazzling smile from Lucien.

“We should probably find a better place to get to know each other,” he said.

Elain shrugged, lying back on the sandy ground, spreading her legs slightly. “Or I could just offer you something to eat.”

Lucien raised one eyebrow. “You do know that doesn’t count, right?”

“Maybe I want to see how you compare to  your beast form.”

Lucien’s smirk was predatory as he crawled between her legs, lowering his mouth to her clit and sucking.

“So does this mean you’ll accept the bond?” Lucien asked between licks.

“Are you complaining about my offering?” Elain demanded.

Lucien shook his head. “Never.” He inserted one finger in her cunt, curling it inside her. “I’ll wait as long as you need.”

Elain gasped, legs tightening on his head. “I know where to find you,” she said. “Somewhere in the woods.”

“I think I was the one who found you,” Lucien said. Elain opened her mouth to argue, but he bit her clit lightly, her cry interrupting whatever she was going to say. “My little fawn waiting to be caught.”

[secretlynestaarcheron]

Velaris University: Pitch it to me Ch. 3

Nessian / Gwynriel fanfic

Nesta

The bell above the diner door jingled as a couple walked in and made their way to a booth in the far corner. “Who are you looking for?” Gwyn asks from where she was making a fresh batch of coffee. 

“Yeah, you jump every time the door opens. Is it that psycho ex again?” Emerie asks from where she was peeking out from the kitchen. She holds up a spatula she had just been using that’s still covered in pancake mix. “Do we need to kill him? Egg his house?” 

Nesta laughs and looks back at the silverware she was rolling. It was 8 o’clock, she had told Cassian to stop by before 11. He was probably still asleep. “What were you going to do? Drown him with pancake batter?” Nesta chuckles. Emerie gets a twinkle in her eye and slightly shrugs. “I am just wondering if Azriel is going to pop out and surprise Gwyn.” 

A red blush floods Gwyn’s face as she turns away from them. Nesta and Emerie turn to each other and burst out laughing. “We’re joking, G,” Emerie calls. “I still can’t believe you are paired up with your knight in shining armor since freshman year. This is the universe telling you to make your move.” 

Gwyn shakes her head quickly. “Absolutely not, we are definitely just going to make awkward comment exchanges on the google doc until the project was over,” she says, as she pours the coffee into two mugs and walks down the aisle towards the couple in the back. 

She takes their order before moving back behind the counter to hand the slip to Emerie. “Then why did he text you wanting to meet?” Nesta questions with a raised brow. 

“I don’t know, he didn’t even remember me and if he did he was not happy about being paired with me,” Gwyn replies shortly. 

“That’s only because he had a crush on Elain,” Nesta retorts. Gwyn turns towards her quickly with wide eyes. “Gwyn, seriously? You were watching him all love struck this summer. You did not see him looking all love struck at Elain?” 

Emerie slides the two plates across the counter and Gwyn moves to grab them. “Elain and him would not be good together,” Nesta replies. “I wholeheartedly believe that she was just there. That’s the only reason he clung to her. If you let him see you. Gwyn. He’d be stupid to let you go. You should keep meeting with him in person” 

Gwyn bites her lip not saying anything as she takes the plates and makes her way to the back. Nesta hadn’t known Gwyn when she went through what she went through in freshman year, she didn’t even really know the whole story. Only that something happened and Azriel was there to help. 

She hasn’t gone on a date or even been near a guy since Nesta had met her. She barely left the library until she met Nesta. They had both worked there fall semester of sophomore year and Nesta got Gwyn out of her funk. They bonded over romantic novels, pasta, and their passions for being dependent and strong. Nesta even got Gwyn this job at the diner where they met Emerie. 

“I have to get to class,” Gwyn says, as she begins to untie the apron from behind her waist. She shoves it into her cubby and pulls out her backpack. “I’ll see you at home later?” 

Nesta nods. “I’ll text you when I am on my way and I can grab take out for us for movie night.” The door jingles again and Nesta’s heart skips a beat when she sees Cassian stroll through. The tight grey shirt he wore was wet from his hair, he must have showered before he came. Nesta scoulded herself for thinking his shirt was tight and for creating the image of him in the shower. 

His eyes scan the diner until they land on her and his smile brightens. Gwyn leans in next to Nesta and smirks, “Looks like I am not the only one who has a their eyes turned by a baseball player,” she snorts. 

“I am helping him with a paper,” Nesta replies quickly. Too quickly. Gwyn’s eyes dance with mischief. “You know, the other job I have?” 

Gwyn hums as she finishes grabbing her stuff. “You just happen to meet your tutoring peers outside of your tutoring hours?” she asks knowing that she stumped Nesta. Nesta shoves her lightly and says, “Don’t you have a class to get to? And a project to work on?” 

Gwyn’s laughter echos through the diner as she leaves. Cassian comes up to the counter with a sheepish grin. “I am sorry I am late, I had morning practice and had to shower quickly,” he says, gesturing up to his wet hair. “I didn’t think you’d appreciate having to smell sweat and dirt since your going out of your way to help me.” 

Nesta laughs as he sits up on one of the barstools and begins pulling out his laptop and notebook. “Technically, you are also going out of the way to help me,” she retorts talking about the fake boyfriend thing. “Are you still okay with that?” 

Cassian chuckles. “I am completely okay with being your arm candy for a night, Archeron,” he quips. 

For the next hour, they work together between customers. Nesta explains how to write a thesis statement, outlining, paragraph structuring, and anything else Cassian would need to tackle this assignment. She watched as he begun complining sources and working on making a makeshift outline. 

She moved throughout the diner refilling coffees and dropping checks before returning to where Cassian was staring intently at his notebook, his hand paused mid stroke. She raises an eyebrow and she glanced down at what he was trying to write. “I am not stupid,” Cassian interjects before she could make out the word. She opens her mouth to say that she didn’t think he was but he continues, “I am just not great at English. I am better at math or physics or even history.” 

“Why do you do that?” she interrupts. 

He lowers the pencil and looks up at her. “What do you mean?” he asks. 

“I didn’t say you were stupid. I don’t even think you are, but whenever I see you pause in the slightest you have to tell me you’re not,” she replies. “Has someone told you were?”

His gaze moves away from her. “No,” he says quickly. They both know that Nesta knows that he’s lying. “I guess I just feel stupid for needing help in my senior year for a subject that I use daily. I speak English for fucks sake.” 

An older couple at the table behind him gasps and he turns around to give a sheepish apology. “We all have subjects we aren’t good at, Cas,” Nesta replies easily. “I am not great at science, terrible at it actually. Anatomy? I can’t name a single muscle. Physics? All I remember is the word velocity but I don’t even know what it does. Don’t even get me started on chemistry. That was a nightmare.” 

He cracks a smile at her but Nesta notices how it doesn’t meet his eye. Before she can say anything else, Emerie shouts from the kitchen. “Nes, get out of here. You have class and I have a whole tip jar to myself for the next few hours.” 

Cassian lifts up his phone to see the time and his face falls in disappointment. “What are you doing for the rest of the day?” Nesta asks as she unties the apron from around her waist and grabs her book bag from her cubie. 

He begins putting away his own stuff. “I’ve got a group workout, English, and then I’ll be planting myself in front of this computer for the rest of the day. I really appreciate your help, Nes,” he says softly. “It actually makes sense when you explain it.” 

“I would hope so,” she replies as they begin to walk out the door of the diner. Nesta waves goodbye to Emerie as they exit into the chilly March air. “Gwyn and I are having a movie night at our apartment. Emerie will be there and sometimes Lucien, Elain, or Feyre will show up. You should come and bring your bat boys.” 

“Does Nesta Archeron want to see me again? And on the same day?” He chuckles. “I thought you would be sick of me by now.” 

She laughs. “I will say you are much more tolerable than you were last summer,” she retorts. “You can bring whatever you’ve completed and I’ll begin proofreading.” 

“You don’t need to bribe me to hang out. I’ll do it completely free,” he retorts. Nesta's heart jumps at that and she scolds herself for the reaction. In a few days, Cassian would be back to baseball being his true love and Nesta would be back to working three jobs and studying for the LSAT. “But only for you, my standard rate is pizza and foot rubs.” 

She rolls her eyes and shoves him as they stand in front of the car. “Good luck, I’ll see you tonight,” she says. He gives her a bright smile and a wave as he moves farther into the parking lot towards his own car. Nesta pulls out her phone and sends a text to Gwyn, hoping she wouldn’t be mad about the few extra guests she invited.

[dubishnishshan]

Stop Shitting on characters of the fandom that DO NOT deserve the hate... ¿Please?

I´m really against all type of hate in the fandom sooo I want to ask politely to everyone who is shitting on Gywn´s appreciation week to just stop it.

I'm talking to the TOXIC Elriel shippers, not the Elriel shippers that are NOT toxic I see ya, I respect it. Hello and see ya fangirling about her book whenever it comes. (2030 as its seems based on SJM love for keeping the suspense)

But all the other ones who just throw hate at a Fan Art of Gwyn (even if she is not with Az) that's who I'm talking to because I'm tired of seeing beautiful posts and then a comment that says:

"WeLl wE dON´t nEeD a SpECiaL WeEk BecAuSe wE hAve tHe StoRy tO BaK oUr ShIP".

I get you don't ship Gwyn but honestly the appreciation week isn't even about Azriel. Yes, there are parts that are dedicated to Gwynriel but there are a ton of other things. Let us have fun and enjoy our thing!

Not saying there are not some toxic ass Gwynriels out there because there are, I see ya and I don't really respect that you throw hate at Elain for no fucking reason.

But in Gwyn week I saw literally no one talking shit about Elain. So please let us enjoy our week and if you want you can have your own Elain appreciation week it's fine. If you don't then that's fine to.

But please stop the hate... because y´all look like the straight people complaining about the lack of "straight pride" month. (Not saying All Elriel shippers are like that, just the toxic ones trying to rain on our parade)

So that's all, hope you will please be more respectful with the other parts of the fandom, except for anyone who ships Tamlin and Feyre because that's some scary ass shit right there.