Elain Archeron has bangs and no one can convince me otherwise. 😌

Commission for bookish_art_cat on IG. It was a pleasure to work on this artwork of Gwyn for her 😁

The Singers💙

What if Gwyn was a pop singer and Azriel just a grumpy rocker?

Koschei gives zero fucks about Azriel

Azriel asks Koschei a question. Koschei ignores Az completely and asks Cassian why he won’t speak to him. We know Koschei isn’t addressing Az because Az literally just spoke.

We know this also in the way Cassian responds.

Azriel is not part of any of Koschei’s plans. He doesn’t even acknowledge his existence let alone have something planned for Azriel.

Az being recused from Koschei by Elain is a desperate attempt to link Azriel to Elain’s plot that has no basis in canon.

Is This How They Felt?

This fanfic is based off of a Starfall Elucien fanart that is credited at the bottom of this post! I hope you all enjoy

Summary: Elain x Lucien enjoy Starfall together and watch from afar as the Inner Circle enjoys one of the most intimate nights of the year.

Content: Fluff, heavy emotional content

Warnings: none

Gwyn's Birthday Can't be in January (or can it?)

The latest argument of the fandom about Gwyn's birthday has reached me and I'm a bit baffled at how people are talking about some things as though they were foolproof facts.

We all know she was conceived in Calanmai. There isn't any discussion about that. In our world, Calanmai is a welsh festival to celebrate May Day and it marks the halfway point between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. It's counterpart in the colder months is known as Samhain, November 1st.

The first thing I want to point out is that there's a retcon from ACOTAR to ACOMAF about Calanmai, or at very least, some imprecision. That is because in the first book Lucien says verbatim "Fire Night signals the official start of spring—in Prythian, as well as in the mortal world". This does create some ambiguity, as in our world, the official start of Spring is the Spring Equnox, at the end of March.

ACOMAF later introduces us to Nynsar/Starfall, which is even earlier in the Spring, and that's great! Cleared up the fact that the official start of spring =/= actual start of spring. I'm not going to dispute that but rather, alright, Calanmai is indeed May 1st.

As Fae Pregnancies last 10 months to the date would be March 1st. So Gwyn and Catrin are March Babies. Lovely little piece of math there. There's just one problem: this line of thinking assumes their mother carried the pregnancy to full term. Since we don't actually have Gwyn's exact birthday, we can't pinpoint the lenght of her mother's pregnancy and when she was born.

Life isn't rocket science. Every single day children are born way before their due date, for whatever reason, and this is particularly true to twins. Most twin pregnancies aren't, in fact, carried to the neat 40 weeks mark. In ACOWAR, Nyx himself was born way earlier than normal because of complications and after Nesta resurrected him and Feyre, he's mostly fine.

Bottom line is that no, you cannot take it as a fact that Gwyn's birthday is in March just because that matches the usual length of fae pregnancies, since we don't know long their mother was pregnant. Yes, the opposite is also true: we can't know for sure if that she was born in january. Certainty doesn't exist here for either side.

But they could be, if Sarah wants them to be. And that's the point.

It’s actually sweet, all the time Lucien antis think that he is powerful enough to bamboozle two mated High Lord and High Lady daemantis, a female with truth powers who speaks and sees it, and a male with sentient shadow friends lurking to report back to him, especially when he has been sent to monitor the Queens and Koschei.

It’s honestly wild, all the effort they have put into pulling quotes and writing long think pieces that don’t even align with SJM’s themes.

It’s actually romantic that they have the gall to say Elain deserves to be with someone who is less than one of the most powerful beings in Prythian.

Ending the year with an Elain and Lucien commission by the talented and amazing vallerony_.

My jaw was on the floor from sketch to final because, my god, look how good these two look. We wanted to lean into angst and tension, which perfectly sums up where Elucien is right now. And honestly? Fated mates who are reluctant will forever be one of the best tropes. The slower the burn, the better.

To say vallerony_ captured the tension and longing perfectly is an understatement. If there was ever a headcanon I’d want to see play out, it would be this one: Elain and Lucien getting caught up in their travels, a rainstorm rolling in, forcing them to find shelter together, and the slow burn finally starts to pay off. Also, imagining when Elain sees Lucien’s back for the first time. 🥺 Will she ask, who did this to you?

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! 🎉🎇🎆

🛑 This artwork is commissioned, paid for, and belongs to the artist. Do NOT screenshot, upload to AI, trace, edit, or repost to X, Pinterest or any other platform. Art theft is not appreciation. Failure to respect this will get you blocked.

I think people forget that Lucien is no longer staying at Graysen’s Manor with the Band of Exiles and is now permanently stationed in Spring with Tamlin.

Here’s a reminder

"Her eyes were the brown of a fawn's coat. And he could have sworn something sparked in them as she met his gaze."

(my babies)

In what world would changing yourself utterly and completely to fit a person better, a sign of healthy, good or even true love?

Elain would have to change herself completely to be with Azriel.

Azriel would have to hide things about himself in shame to feel like he could be with Elain.

This is why E/riel will never work.

This is why there’s many people who don’t want E/riel to happen. It’s toxic. It’s not healthy. It’s not authentic nor them being authentically themselves.

Meanwhile:

Lucien thrives in social settings, loves people, is literal sunshine, hates violence—all things Elain can relate to.

Gwyn has been in the shadows, sees his shadows and accepts them with not a single thought, has already witnessed Azriel’s darkness and has not been frightened. She thrives in quiet and peace of close friends, content to be alone when she needs it.

I don’t understand why people want the bare minimum for these characters when they could have so much better.

If we’re talking about “canon facts”…

Elain and Azriel do not have a bond.

Elain’s mate is Lucien.

Lucien is not in love with Vassa and he’s longing for Elain as of SF.

Vassa has shown no indication of wanting to be more than friends with Lucien.

Vassa and Jurian have been living together, alone, for over six months. Lucien lives in Spring as of the end of SF.

Elain has never once said anything negative about Lucien and never said that she wants to break the mating bond or doesn’t want him.

Elain has not returned any of Lucien’s gifts, but returned Truth Teller without looking back and took less than an hour to return the necklace Azriel gave her.

Azriel was in love with Mor from MAF to FAS. He didn’t give a fig about Elain until Lucien showed up at the Night Court, was relieved he didn’t have to watch her during the High Lord meeting, and was relieved that he didn’t have to give her a gift during Solstice.

Azriel had been avoiding Elain for a year up until Solstice in his bonus chapter. The most they had touched before was accidentally brushing hands. They have not been meeting up secretly, they have not had a secret affair.

✨✨Friendly Reminder✨✨

Context matters, along with other things…

For the second time on here….Azriel wasn’t screaming for Elain because of a mating bond. He was screaming because Hybern was doing what he threatened to do when they got caught and moved to the throne room. Pushing the BLOODbane deep into his vains causing him pain(cause it’s a poison that kills), which caused him to scream, which stopped Feyre and Rhys from struggling with the guards. See? Context and comprehension of said context matters.

And what the fuck is wolfsbane?! ACOTAR has never heard of it.

This is Lucien btw, when he felt the instant mate rage before Elain was turned into fae.

And this was after

But ofc Rhys, Kkng of Hybern, or Koschei faked their mating bond 🫠

Faebane vs Bloodbane & the Elucien mating bond

I know this has been said before, but Bloodbane and Faebane are NOT the same thing.

One will kill you if it’s not treated in time, and the other one mutes magic and bonds.

Bloodbane was mentioned in ACOMAF and is described as a greenish poison.

Azriel was shot through the chest with an ash bolt coated in bloodbane.

Not faebane

Faebane is described as a substance that came from a bluish stone and made its first appearance when Velaris was attacked by a swarm of faeries & the Attor whose allegiance is with the King of Hybern.

Faebane later made its next appearance in ACOWAR. This was the substance that dims magic and bonds.

Faebane do not interfere with mating bonds being chosen. Mating bonds are “predestined” in the Maasiverse including ACOTAR. So the bond between Lucien and Elain was already determined by the Mother.

Also, Lucien was showing mate behavior towards human Elain before she went into the cauldron. And it’s a real bond, Lucien tested it out and said it was real in ACOWAR. So no, it wasn’t manipulated by Rhys, King of Hybern, or Koschei.

EXACTLY 👏🏻👏🏻

I love canon

I would also like to mentioned, that even while poisoned with Bloodbane, Azriel STILL tried to protect Mor from the King of Hybern. He didn’t react to Elain at all. His sole focus was on Mor. So I definitely do not think Azriel is Elains “true mate”. Her true mate is Lucien.