If You´re Searching For That One Person That Will Change Your Like, Take A Look In The Mirror.

Oops

I DONT ECEB KNOW WHAT TO SAY

SARAHHHH

WHAT A FUCKING CLIFFHANGER I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS:

IF RHYS LOOKS LIKE RUHN DOES BRYCE LOOK LIKE RHYS LITTLE SISTER????

IS AMREN LIKE FURY?????

IS THE LAND THE SHIFTERS CAME FROM THE TOG WORLD AND DOES THAT MEAN THE ASTARI ARE VALG?????

Type: Lucien Vanserra x Reader.

Fandom: A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Warnings: None, it's just fluff.

Authors Note: I think I've never written something for Lucien and I love him so much so here's something fluff for my baby. It was a request but the person said they didn't want the ask to be addressed, so, I hope they see this :(( I took so long to do BUT IT'S HERE.

"Can I braid your hair?" Y/N said guilty filing her guts.

It was her fault they argued, her fault because she couldn't keep her damn mouth closed. Lucien had nothing to do with her angriness, nothing to do with anything consuming in her life, but still, she'd thrown it at him.

If the gorgeous male fae on the other side of the bedroom was caught by surprise by the sudden request he didn't make it seem. His steps hushed towards you, and he sat down in front of you, letting out a sigh that seemed to be held for centuries.

The house was empty, just the two of them filling it with their angry words, now silent because of the sudden stop. Not a single soul spoke anything while Y/N's fingers traced Lucien's hair first brushing it and then grabbing two little pieces to make a crown of braids.

She wet her lips, trying to find the right words to say, but she hasn't learned how to apologize, not when she was raised to be rude and strong, someone who won't say sorry, and won't accept it either.

When her fingers stopped and grabbed an elastic to hold the braid still he was about to go but then she laced her arms around his neck and put her face on it, inhaling his scent.

"I'm sorry," her voice barely heard. "I didn't want to fight with you, I was mad, Azriel pissed me off on today's training and I just threw it all on you and-"

She almost said it. Love. For a brief minute, she thought it would slip right out of her mouth and confess her killing feelings for him. It was wrong, she was dirty, he was a completely different person who deserved something much better than her.

"It's ok, my love, I shouldn't have pushed you to this. It's not your fault, not completely." Lucien tried to give her a soft smile but it just looked sad. Yes, it made more damage than he was telling.

"No, it's not ok. Listen, I was the one pushing you, I love you and I don't want us to be like this. I promised myself not to do it again, never throw things at you like you don't have feelings. I know it hurt you more than you're letting me see, and I'm really, truly and completely sorry for-" He cut her with his lips.

She breathed hard, getting caught by surprise with the sudden kiss, but then melt in his mouth faster than she should.

His hand was at the side of her face, cupping it, never letting her go when he broke the contact of their lips. "What did you say, love?"

"You didn't let me finish, I was saying that I'm truly-" Another kiss that pissed her off. "Please, this is harder than you think and I'm finally having the courage to-"

"Before all the things I don't need to hear because of course I forgive you, you said something. What was it?" His bright smile made her blush.

She didn't know what he was talking about, didn't even remember all the things she said, it was in a hush. But then, then it came to her realization that she said the words she didn't mean to. Didn't mean to throw in a moment like this. A sigh left her lips before she hide her face between her hands.

"I told you I love you," she didn't want to see the disgust on his face, not when she knew he wouldn't want to be loved by someone like her.

"Good God, I'd burn this world for you," then a follow of your name. "Now, I'm going to kiss you, and you're going to say it again and again. I've waited so many years to hear this from you."

He took her hands out of her face and kissed her rough and sweet if it's possible. But, actually, everything is possible to Lucien Vanserra.

My hands curl into fists, my fangs explode in my mouth, and though there were a million other ways I was hoping to break my newfound knowledge to Grace, the words come out before I can even think about stopping them.

“Jaxon, if you wouldn’t mind, take your fucking hands off my mate.”

I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!

HOSAB SPOILERS

After the end of House of Sky and Breath and learning about the Asteri's breeding programs (sidenote: ick), I started wondering what the implications would be for the mating bond, both in Crescent City and in ACOTAR.

Specifically: is the mating bond something that the Asteri bred into the Fae in order to make them magically stronger? Has it been romanticized to help the Fae cope with the darker aspects of their history. Though the Under-King is talking about the afterlife, I kept thinking about this comment he makes to Bryce and Hunt: "The rituals were all invented by you. Your ancestors. To endure the horror of the offering" (HOSAB, 336). Is this what we're seeing with the mating bond?

There are signs that it's possible. In ACOWAR, Rhys tells Feyre, "And sometimes, yes -- the bond picks poorly. Sometimes, the bond is nothing more than some...preordained guesswork at who will provide the strongest offspring. At its basest level, it's perhaps only that. Some natural function, not an indication of true, paired souls" (ACOWAR, 258)

Keep in mind that Rhys is talking to his beloved mate at this point, so he's inclined to believe that, even if all mating bonds aren't great, his is a perfect one. For anyone who feels they have found their soulmate, this is a familiar feeling: while you feel as if you have chosen this incredible person, there's also a part of you that believes you were made for each other. If things had gone differently, if I hadn't met them on exactly that day or in that location, you tell yourself, we would have found our way to each other. SJM makes the "fate" part literal with the mating bonds.

But if we remove Rhys' comments from their context, the mating bond becomes something sinister, a way of arranging for powerful magic. And since the Daglan/Asteri feed on magic (HOSAB, 784), they could have simply and horribly been trying to breed the Fae into more satisfying meals.

Speaking personally, I think this is an interesting story about the ways we survive inherited trauma, the ways we seek romance, the ways that we turn biological function into something spiritual, the ways that choice sometimes doesn't feel like enough. I think SJM could write this in an extremely compelling way if she chose to. Still, it calls mating bonds into question, with big implications for ACOTAR in particular. And, looking closer at HOSAB and ACOSF in particular, I think she's trying to do something different with the mating bond.

Let's start by looking at the arc of the relationship between Bryce and Hunt. Bryce starts off disparaging the mating bond, memorably saying: "And at least he’s not some psychotic alphahole who will demand a three-day sex marathon and then call me his mate, lock me in his house, and never let me out again ” (HOEAB, 32). She doesn't romanticize mates at all in HOEAB, and if this continued in HOSAB, I would have thought that this was ultimately the direction that SJM has chosen to go in.

Instead, we see Bryce and Hunt choosing to be mates and then, as their relationship grows and deepens, they become "true mates -- the way the Fae are mates, in [their] bodies and souls" (HOSAB, 492).

Beyond the beautiful fact that they choose each other before a biological function pulls them together, Bryce and Hunt seem to have a power that, when they wield it together, could bring down the Asteri. They are incredibly powerful individually, but together? They could remake their world.

If SJM wanted to, Bryce and Hunt could have fallen in love and had these complementary powers without being mates. They could have been a symbol of a new way of loving for her characters that was purely based on choice. Instead, choice and fate and biology all bring these two together. Bryce, who is skeptical of the mating bond, becomes enthusiastic when she decides on this relationship with Hunt, freely referring to him as her mate throughout HOSAB.

We also see her use similar language between the way the mating bond feels to Bryce and Hunt, to the way that Azriel experiences Gwyn's presence (see: the Bryce and Azriel bonus chapters in HOSAB and ACOSF, respectively). If SJM were pulling away from the mating bond, I don't know that she would be introducing such a possibility, and certainly not in such romantic terms.

If the mating bond were a symbol of oppression, we likely wouldn't see her introduce Danika's mate, particularly in the romantic context its presented, let alone the romance between Ruhn and Lidia that definitely seems like a mating bond based on everything we've seen before. Instead, these mating bonds actually strengthen the characters' resistance to the Asteri, creating a stronger possibility of a better world.

After all, love and community are poor tools for any authoritarian. It's why we see dictators vilify certain people groups. People are much easier to rule when they're separated, and a strong bond that makes mates sacrifice and choose each other doesn't seem to play into the Asteri's hands. Love simply could not be bred out of the Fae.

In the end, I think that, as messy as they are, the idea that the Mother/Urd gives these mating bonds, and the Asteri simply couldn't remove it, is going to be a through-line that not only leads to the incredible romance and thrilling twists we love so much, but freedom for our favorite characters in Midgard and Prythian.

Disclaimer: this post contains major spoilers from House of Sky and Breath

This was so much fun to make, it'll make everyone's lives easier including myself haha so happy reading everyone! I tried my best to include accurate info🤍

Posted on Instagram

......and I will never forget how we thought he was the manipulating tyrant brother at first......

HOSAB SPOILERS !!!

Flynn: *says anything*

The fire sprites:

Aelin: *yeets herself across realms*

Rhys: Guys I saw this strange girl fall from the sky—

Everyone: LOL sure Rhys

Bryce: *Literally falls from the sky*

Rhys: