_{“Is it because I’m your mate? Or is it because I don’t whisper pretty words to you, or refuse to believe that there isn’t more to you? Would you prefer it instead if I knelt in front of you and offered the food, or fed it to you myself? Or does it enrage you that the world no longer caters to you here, in the depths of the wilderness?” His eye gleams, and there it is, clear as day; embers sparking in the depths. Anger. Clear as day. “I will do no such thing, Elain. And you will eat, because I will not carry out a mission that involves a fainting Fae that refuses to eat because it is not the fare that she ate in the palace of a High Lord.”}

_{“I didn’t ask to come here,” snarls Elain, fists clenching at her side.}

_{“Oh, but you volunteered, yes? Because I recall you offering when Feyre and Rhysand asked.”}

_{She grows silent then, fingers furling and unfurling. Fingers, he notices, that are scarflecked, and because she’d refused to wear the gloves that he’d given her for a solstice.}

_{oneshot (?) set while lucien, elain, and jurian travel through the continent to find vassa and koschei. sort of involves lucien and elain talking about the bond, and is sort of how i’d see their dynamic??? still exploring it though. let me know if y’all like it :’)}

Keep reading

do you know how unlikely it is for Lucien and Helion to not be aware that Helion is Lucien’s father? Lucien’s an emissary— he’s been traveling to courts for centuries. Helion and Lucien were both under the mountain. In ACOMAF, Lucien also says he visited the Day Court twice to find something to help Feyre regarding the bargain w Rhys. Lucien is known for being one of the most intelligent characters in ACOTAR, and you really think he wouldn’t notice? Or at the very least, Helion wouldn’t know? And if neither do, that’s SJM slacking tbh, because these are two of the smartest characters and they’ve crossed paths endless times.

_{okay, but can we discuss the way the inner circle handles trauma? while they pride themselves on growing past their traumas, i couldn’t think that’s further from the truth. i think they have a toxic mentality where they repress said traumas and push past it so they may live normally; they do not handle the trauma head on, as made evident by the way feyre, rhysand, and elain are mentioned and spoken about it in acosf. and i honestly think for elain, it’s damaging her more than anything and that lucien is the only one that’s picking up on that. i feel like the inner circle often glosses over elain, and i’m upset azriel hasn’t made more of a point to address it as well, particularly since he’s very much also “feeling” for elain.} 

acotar as a show

Lucien is not white Helion is not white Emerie is not white and I cannot believe I have to say this but Tarquin is absolutely not white

so explaining my take on Lucien’s heritage— I don’t think he’s Black, I think he’s Middle Eastern (there are Black North Africans, but geographically, I’m penning North Africa rather than East, West, or South). Sarah J Maas is known for being vague and having PoC characters remain ambiguous, but let me let y’all know why I have my take on it.

Date palms and sand-swept palaces remind me more of North Africa and strictly North Africa; Egypt and Morocco in particular.

Now as for his dress, it’s very Mediterranean, very Roman/Greek but also not. Another issue with SJM is that she often meshes cultures together, which is EXTREMELY problematic, and that is the vibe I am getting with Helion and his court. To finalize what I assume is an attempt at a court that is built off of North Africa and Ancient Egypt, I looked at the appearances of the others from his court.

Rich dyes, and KOHL. Kohl is a cosmetic that is heavily popular in North Africa and particularly Egypt — when you look at paintings and representations of Ancient Egypt, the people are ALWAYS wearing Kohl. Now combined with imagery of desert palaces and palms, along with Mediterranean dress that was worn by the Ancient Egyptians, and my take is that Helion is meant to be North African, and strictly Egyptian.

This is a reminder as well that Egyptians are a wide variety of colors— while as an Egyptian I am more olive, I have relatives that are Black. Egypt is a heavily diverse country, and there ARE Black Egyptians. And Lucien, to me, likely sounds as if he’s got a skin tone that is almost gold, not olive, with yellow undertones.

AND THIS IS A REMINDER THAN LUCIEN VANSERRA IS NOT WHITE.

Elain’s gardening is very much a part of who she is but is also a connection to the human world; it’s the only connection that truly hasn’t changed, and gardening in the fae world is the same as in the human lands. I think it was mentioned that she spent an AWFUL amount of time gardening and to me it sounds like she’s deflecting becoming fae while clinging to the one thing that makes her feel human. :/

Me looking at Azriel after reading this book

_{rereading acomaf and y’all telling me they don’t have therapists in the night court ? ? ?}