#gwynlain

happy pride (+1 day) here's gwynlain on a picnic enjoying a snack courtesy of @taymartiart

Last one for @sjmsapphic

This was a really fun event 🩷 Before working on my pieces, I was fairly neutral about Gwyn and Elain tbh and mostly interested for aesthetic reasons (soft colours! flowers!) But during the painting process some new headcanons formed, and now I‘m quite attached to them.

Day 3: Taste

what (or who) is being tasted? what are the sensations like? flavor, texture?

I really, really wanted to do a sketch with Gwyn in fighting leathers sitting on a horse and Elain thinking, 'Oh, who's that girl?' because they are the perfect princess x knight. Also, On Parade by Electrelane is my favourite sapphic anthem and has some very sexy lines that may have influenced me. Alas, the compositions and horses did not come together at all but princess x knight Gwynlain stayed with me. They should go on a quest together.

Divider by olenvasynyt

Inspo below

@sjmsapphic

To my own surprise, I got hooked on Gwynlain.

Day 2: Touch

how does the subject interact with the physical world? what do they feel? what don't they feel?

While both Elain and Gwyn are outwardly sweet, what I find most interesting about them is the fact that they both deal with their trauma and experiencing loss of bodily autonomy by isolating and detaching. Elain inwardly and in the River House, Gwyn in the library and by avoiding life outside the House of Wind complex.

Could they go on a healing journey together? Could they reinvent themselves away from Velaris where their roles are quite set? Who would dare to touch first?

Divider by olenvasynyt

Inspo and reference below

okay I just couldn't stop thinking about armor it turns out so I ended up going in more of a sapphic knight and her lady thing here

mirror | Elain x Gwyn for red string of fate except :( it's koschei for @sjmsapphic

"I'm scared, Gwyn," Elain says. She can nearly see her reflection mirrored in the silver gleam of Gwyn's armor.

She looks formidable, plated and mailed, Made sword sheathed at her side. Elain places her hand on Gwyn's cuirass. Through the metal, she cannot feel her heartbeat.

Gwyn's fingers twine through Elain's hair as she pulls her close. "Don't be."

Elain wishes it were that easy. "For so long, I didn't think my life was something worth losing. But this—you—everything we've built together… Now that I finally have you, I don't want to lose it."

Father didn't know, she tells herself. He couldn't have known what he was doing.

Earnest teal eyes look down at her. "I won't let him take you away."

Him. They never say his name, though the death god's shadow stretches long over them.

"I'll protect you," Gwyn promises. Her long fingers wrap around Elain's and she brings her hand up to her mouth. Elain trembles as Gwyn plants a kiss upon them. "For now and for always."

Here we go, @sjmsapphic!

Day 1: Scent

is there a scent that lingers? does a character notice the absence of one? perhaps a mating bond?

Gwynlain Carmilla adaptation idea:

Of course, Elain and Azriel had not stopped meeting. After they were discovered in a quite tight embrace in the River House's rose garden, the High Lord of the Night Court talked to to his spymaster and the High Lady to her sister. But neither careful words nor thinly veiled threats produced any reaction. Using their daemati powers, Feyre and Rhysand tried to gain more insight, only to encounter dense fog where memories of Azriel's and Elain's encounters should be. Had a curse been placed on both of them, maybe even by Koschei? Were Elain's seer powers taking their toll on her? Clearly, something was wrong with Elain. What place would be better to support her healing and find out more about her seer abilities than the library...

After a few days of settling into life in the library and slowly opening up to each other, Elain starts haunting Gwyn in her sleep. But instead of bite marks, she leaves dried flowers. Gwyn had never slept better than on the night Elain left lavender on her bedside table.

Pairing: Gwyneth Bardara x Elain Archeron

Summary: Elain felt buried beneath the pressure of confronting the behemothous elephant that is her mating bond. Nor the sporadic, unreliable trysts with Morrigan or Azriel that left her gaping, physically and emotionally. It was all too much.

Gwyn, however, seemed perfect.

A/N: for @sjmsapphic! snippet below the divider, full fic (7.5k) on ao3!

She was tired of male company, of Rhysand and Azriel and their strange possessive tug-o-war, of Lucien and his awkwardly gentle kindness that wore like rain-soaked socks.