#``so you're fluid'' no one knows what that means <- incredible line from that recent trump interview

[deerest-me]

truly incredible how summertime super girly pop music immediately makes me suspend my self-presentation as death-obsessed anachronistic creep so i can go beach party mode

[terramythos]

Hi! First of all, MAJOR spoilers for Be The Serpent are below, in case you have not read it for whatever reason. I'm assuming you have but I figured I would mention it just to be safe.

So this is a personal post. I compiled this list for myself; I didn't take the time to include my reasoning under each line, nor was it intended to be an inclusive argument/debate, nor did I include everything I found. It's probably my mistake for tagging it. But I will outline some of my justifications in case you're interested.

Several previous examples do fall solidly into the "Marcia is non-specifically weird" camp, it's true; I included ones I found personally interesting when taken in aggregate with the more direct evidence that ties her to Maeve.

Speculation based on what you said: I agree the Arden thing is Weird, and I do think it's a possibility Marcia is ALSO Marianne. I don't think it would be odd for Maeve (or Marcia, or whatever guise she may have had at the time) to have some kind of history with the local royal family. That doesn't mean she is Marianne specifically, though I agree this is probably most likely based on what we know. We are definitely missing a lot of context from that time period, so I'm interested to see how it's addressed in the future.

However, independent from that, based on The Unkindest Tide (especially her interactions with The Luidaeg, which read much differently under a "The Luidaeg is her daughter" lens), her monologue in that book about Faerie being broken (Maeve's Broken Ride is just. A whole thing? And especially emphasized in the most recent book?), her offhand line about Faerie being fluid and changing (Maeve and her descendents are HEAVILY characterized as protean throughout the series), plus her consistent series-wide reactions whenever The Luidaeg is mentioned, PLUS this line from Be the Serpent, which describes Goldengreen, where Marcia currently lives, in all but name:

(Regarding water, it is also worth noting Marcia used to live under the protection of Lily, an incredibly rare water fae).

AND considering "Marcia" means "warlike", in context of this loredump in the same book (battles and war are mentioned twice in lines i included under the cut, by the way):

There is zero doubt in my mind she is Maeve, and I would absolutely consider these pieces, all together, evidence of it.

Some side observations:

1. I question how Marcia was the only one able to directly resist Evening's attack on Goldengreen in The Winter Long without being Firstborn at least-- and even that is a stretch, considering just how powerful Evening is. Marcia being one of the Three would easily explain this.

2. What my compilation does not address directly is that, in context, Marcia is often "overlooked". Like, so much it's weird; Toby and others are often surprised by her showing up out of nowhere, or forget she was there in the first place, or dismiss her even when it makes no sense for them to do so. A few of the lines I included demonstrate this, but again, there is plenty I didn't include on this post. Oberon, Titania, and Janet were all hidden in plain sight as (at least partial) "mortals". Maeve is the last major player from that group. Marcia's tendency to blend in (which is, funnily enough, a noted trait of Maeve's bloodline), in addition to the conspicuous focus on her being thin-blooded, is in line with the previous three.

Are there alternate explanations for some of this stuff? Sure. All together? I think Marcia being Maeve the least convoluted option available. And imo it's just good storytelling; she was introduced in the first book, and October Daye as a series is full of long con twists. The most recent book just demonstrated this in exacting detail with the Titania reveal (Stacy was ALSO introduced in the first book, btw).

You're welcome to have doubts or disagree but I'd encourage you to look on your own as well! I had some reasonable doubt about the theory beforehand, but The Unkindest Tide ultimately put a nail in that coffin.

there are MANY more than this, but here are the most EGREGIOUS bits of marica=maeve foreshadowing i skimmed in chronological order

Keep reading