#acotar worldbuilding

[kataraavatara]

i know i said i’d shut up about acotar but i’ve never seen a fantasy society so primed for a populist revolution as the night court. all the wealthy merchants and artists are from one single city while a disenfranchised rural population is expected to provide the armies and die for them without seeing any of that wealth? not to mention the fact that the wealthy city elite don’t have to go to war? “oh nooo our greatest threat is koschei the deathless sorcerererrrr” your greatest threat is your citizens discovering class consciousness.

[extremely-judgemental]

I’m prone to ignore world-building issues in a romantasy, but my god, is ACOTAR a lost potential. Night could be so much cooler if SJM didn’t go for the urban aesthetics. Different levels of darkness depending on the different phases of the moon. Eerie silence at all times except for where the civilisation exists. Creatures are light and sound sensitive. Most of them should be dark skinned because camouflage. But then again no sun, no melanin, so pale skin. They all would have this thin, fragile voice that is creepy and mysterious. Night vision but levels of efficiency depending on their species, but definitely better than other courts. Can’t deal with normal heat from daylight. Also, they would be the epitome of fae stillness, so much so it’s unsettling for other courts. Most of the infrastructure would be with open spaces. They might prefer camps like in Illyria, but better of course. Or reinforced buildings to protect themselves from creatures on the prowl all the time. Rhysand should be making mini suns or glowing clouds or whatever with that “star-speckled darkness”. Put that “most powerful High Lord to ever exist” powers to use. The only thing that makes sense to me is the dangerous creatures under the dungeons.

And “under the mountain city” is so Day coded. Perpetual daylight everywhere, so it’s pointless to have a city on ground. Maybe they have a few buildings for occasional use. But imagine, barren fields above and an entire court exists under. Holes would be drilled into the ground to allow natural sunlight, you know like street lamps. They rarely need faelight. Everyone would be blind af in real darkness. They hate silences. Helion should be able to adjust the intensity of sunlight at will, not to complete dark though.

I have no idea what Dawn or Dusk would be like. But yeah, it would have been interesting.

[violetasteracademic]

ATTN: ACOTAR FIC READERS

Critically important ACOTAR word building poll- is it your impression there is coffee in ACOTAR, or only tea? The word coffee is only used once out of all 4.5 books and it is to describe a room smelling of coffee:

What do we think? Do you picture the Fae drinking coffee or does it take you out of it?

[goforth-ladymidnight]

Fellow ACOTAR Book 1 fans! I could use some help visualizing Feyre's dress in ACOTAR ch. 22:

“Don’t know if I should be pleased or worried,” Alis said the next night as she slid the golden underdress over my upraised arms, then tugged it down.

I smiled a bit, marveling at the intricate metallic lace that clung to my arms and torso like a second skin before falling loosely to the rug. “It’s just a dress,” I said, lifting my arms again as she brought over the gossamer turquoise overgown. It was sheer enough to see the gleaming gold mesh beneath, and light and airy and full of movement, as if it flowed on an invisible current.

If SJM hadn't deleted her Pinterest account, I might have a better idea of what she had in mind, but as it is, this is what I found that I think matches the overall description (in silhouette, not necessarily the color):

I really like the Edwardian Art Nouveau influence, but is it faerie enough? Or should it be more "medieval" looking?

Thoughts?

[veenvss]

Magic in Seasonal Prythian

solar magic | main masterlist | worldbuilding masterlist

ACOTAR to me has always had so much potential but it was just ruined by it's execution. however, I am a grown woman (I'm 18) and I also have free time so I though, "Huh, why not do it myself?"

Hi.

This is a post on the Seasonal Courts and their magic.

Prythian is often split into two, Seasonal and Solar, with an area known as the Middle to geographically split them as well. The magic between the courts differs, yet they're also quite similar. Each court relies on each other in order to make their magic effective. Summer is the start of the harvest, which allows for things to survive during winter. Autumn is where animals and plants retreat to save their strength for the minimal amount of nutrients in winter, so they come back and flourish in the spring.

AUTUMN

The Autumn Court is one of the Seasonal Courts of Prythian, located south of the Middle, and it's currently run by its High Lord, Beron Vanserra.

In ACOTAR, the Autumn people are shown to have fire magic, they're able to control fire. The only real show of fire power we get is during Lucien and Feyre's escape in ACOWAR, where Eris and Feyre fight on the ice lakes in Winter. Eris manages to get Feyre to the ground and he has a tight grip on her. She is gagged by fire and she is bound by the ankles and wrists by fire. She mentions that it was hot, but not enough to burn unless Eris wills it, showing that they may be able to control the temperature of their flames. And that's it. That's all we get in the books about the magic of the Autumn Court.

The ability to create fire could be a limited power. Some may have the ability to create fire from thin air, however, others could rely on fire that already exists without the ability to create their own. Obviously, there are ways to go about this, such as in the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, where Cal and Maven use bracelets that create sparks to be able to create fire when they need it.

As mentioned in ACOWAR, they could have the ability to manipulate the temperature, both as an effect of fire but also as an effect of autumn itself. They could change the temperatures of the air around them or maybe even specific things. There is a possibility of someone with the ability to control the temperature, heating water, even possibly controlling the temperature of a person and boiling them alive.

Autumn is quite often seen as storm season in many places across the earth. The warmth from summer and the coolness of autumn and winter meeting together. Storms can vary, from a little bit of rain and wind to full-blown hurricanes, as we saw a few weeks ago with Hurricane Helene and Milton. Autumn could mean the ability to manipulate the weather and create storms themselves, and also with that the minor manipulation of water or precipitation. Maybe even the control of flooding, I live in a flood-prone area and autumn is always the start of flood season around me.

With the manipulation of fire and storms could come with the manipulation of oxygen. Fire needs sustainable levels of oxygen to thrive, as well as the oxygen in the atmosphere present in storms. The ability of controlling the oxygen could boost the power of fires and also allow for the user to suffocate flames or even enemies.

Autumn is often associated with its brown leaves, which come as a result of the lack of sunlight needed for photosynthesis. Therefore, people could have the power to manipulate life, making it wither away to fit in with the season of autumn.

Coming with autumn, and the colder weather are negative feelings. Autumn is often the start of seasonal depression for many people, and as a result, it could manifest in Autumn being able to manipulate those feelings in others, creating overwhelming feelings of desperation and isolation.

SPRING

The Spring Court is the southernmost court in Prythian and is currently run by its High Lord, Tamlin.

Despite the first book and a large portion of the next two books taking place in the Spring Court, we never discover much about the magic except for Tamlin's magic, which isn't reflective of the rest of the court due to his High Lord's status.

Tamlin's magic is often shown in his shapeshifting abilities. We see these abilities before we even meet Tamlin himself, as he transforms his guard Andras into a wolf who meets Feyre Archeron in the woods. We know his powers give him the ability to transform himself and others into different animals. There is also a possibility, with the traditional ideas of shapeshifting, of Tamlin being able to transform himself into different people.

Spring is often associated with life, as it's the start of trees turning green and the start of flowers blooming. Traditionally, spring goddesses have always been shown with powers of fertility. This means they have been able to manipulate how births can go and how much food and other resources are produced. This can also give the ability to produce famines and complete destruction of a society with the lack of food, which can cause chaos and breakdowns. Historically, civilisations have crashed due to famines and the lack of resources creating instability. Famines have also led to things such as cannibalism, especially out of necessity. Spring powers are also associated with plants, the blooming of flowers or trees, which can be linked to fertility. The production of fruits on trees or the reliance on nectar for animals such as bees and mice.

Spring also brings along "April showers", as the transition from winter can cause an unstable jetstream. In certain areas, such as the US and the West Pacific, disastrous tornadoes occur in spring, allowing for weather manipulation. High winds and torrential downpours from these storms also allow for minor water manipulation, through flooding and high water levels. Especially at the beginning of spring, the weather is still quite chilly, allowing for control over other forms of precipitation such as hail or snow.

As with Autumn and its ability to bring about feelings of isolation and despair, Spring could have the ability to bring about joy and peace. As again, with fertility, spring brings stability as things start to grow, allowing for them to manipulate these emotions within people.

SUMMER

The Summer Court is another Seasonal Court in Prythian, its current High Lord is Tarquin.

In ACOTAR, Summer is mentioned to have control over water. Feyre's water wolves that she summons during the Battle of Velaris are attested to Summer's control over water. This control is seen once again after a battle against Hybern in ACOWAR. Tarquin is seen drowning their enemies, even though they are miles inland from any sea.

The ability to control water gives a lot of variation in powers. The user could be able to summon waves, maybe even tsunami level waves with enough strength to completely level entire cities. The ability to control water could also result in the ability to control other forms of water, not just liquid, such as vapour or ice. However, as this water ability is connected to the season of summer, I would say that that ability is very minor.

Summer is quite often associated with heat, my reasoning for the lack of ice manipulation. As seen with autumn, the heat manipulation could provide the ability to boil things alive, an equal violent use as drowning someone alive. The heat could also provide an opposing force to ice manipulation, the ability to melt the ice. It could also bring about droughts, which would be devastating to populations if it disrupts the harvest that normally happens at the end of summer. Summer is also associated with the bright sun, which could give control over the light, as well as the heat just mentioned.

The heat and moisture of summer create the prime conditions for storms as well. These storms aren't usually as destructive as the hurricanes or tornadoes associated with autumn and spring, respectively, however, these storms are usually thunderstorms as the high pressure and the heat creates the thunder and lightning. I think this would allow for the control of electricity and energy. Lightning strikes are incredibly hot, and paired with the ability to control heat, I think it would be understandable for them to be able to have the ability to produce fire, yet I think it would be interesting for them to have the ability to produce fire yet not control it. Wildfires are known for being wild and out of control, as seen in wildfires internationally, which would reflect in Summer's inability to properly control the fires they make, as well as the idea that their main form of elemental magic is water, which would provide an opposition to the fire as well.

As with Autumn and Spring, Summer brings along a lot of emotions with it. We commonly associate summer with joy and happiness. We can go outside and celebrate the sun, as well as summer bringing along colours that contrast the gloom of winter and autumn. It would make sense to continue that idea with summer, with the ability to manipulate those emotions in people.

WINTER

The Winter Court is the final Seasonal Court in Prythian. It's the northernmost one, bordered by the Middle to the north, which blocks it from the Solar Courts. Its current High Lord is Kallias, and his wife Viviane.

The Winter Court is able to manipulate ice, as shown by their "icy" complexions and the ice lakes we see in ACOWAR. This ability over would allow them to create ice, maybe to block an opponent's attack of water. It would also them to allow different forms of precipitation, such as hail or snow. The control of snow could allow for them to control snow storms and blizzards.

They could also have the ability to manipulate the temperature, in opposition to what we've seen before. They would be able to make the area around them freezing, maybe make someone's temperature so cold that they freeze to death, even in the dead of summer.

Winter is the time when the plants aren't receiving enough sunlight to thoroughly produce enough energy to keep themselves warm through the cold months. Similar to Autumn, I think this would allow them to wither plants, slowly kill them off by essentially blocking the plants' sunlight receivers, either over time or suddenly, this is magic of course. This ability could also affect people on a wider scale, as killing off plants could affect the stores of food people have for winter, once again causing famine and instability.

With the instability of winter, comes fear, and like the other seasonal courts, I think winter would have the ability to cause fear and dread in people, like Autumn. It can bring a lack of energy and exhaustion, different to Summer's rejuvenation. It could also bring along tiredness, as a lot of animals hibernate throughout the winter. This could allow for Winter to be able to have minimal control over sleep.

first and foremost i would like to thank my sister cause we had a 15 minute long discussion about the wider powers that are associated with the seasons (and the solar courts but that's the next post).

she also brought up the super cool idea of people's associations with the seasons affecting how they're treated. people are immediately fearful of winter because of the instability it brings, making them more on edge around them. in comparison to people being at ease in summer making the court more dangerous and the people open to attack because they're so relaxed.

[shadowqueenjude]

about the dawn court people being east Asia inspired - feyre says something when she sees Nuan at the high lord meeting about how Amren must have chosen a fae form similar to Nuan's bloodline. If Amren is east-asian coded, so is Nuan and thesan too, having at least one parent hailing from xian (am i reading too far into xian sounding so stereotypical, maybe, do i care rn, no). they also say that a majority of the dawn court hails from xian. thesan is supposed to have brown skin (again, please give a better descriptor) so he's mixed.

no one's clothes or architecture reflects anything concrete regarding their inspiration and its such a hodge podge it's so painful to try to discern where the differentiation between courts are. Spring court - because of the name tamlin correlates to a myth about a guy named tam lin who is kind of being held captive by the queen of faeries who needs to be rescued by his mortal lover that he met like suuuper recently, I'm placing the spring court in a place that reflects a medieval scotland. clothes are fairly accurate not in detail but in the sense of material and idk just general existence (women wear dress, man wear breeches, idk) I love that! so simple! Everything makes sense! So then why in dawn are we having technological advances in a steampunk sort of way and similar "old fashioned" clothes to spring, but then in the night court (velaris, the other's i think are fairly period accurate), there are all these advancements in fashion like leggings and pullover sweaters and whatever else she's wearing in the last two books, yet they have the same tech as everyone else barring dawn. (Doing a small pass on the bodysuit armor things because I'm just assuming that's people's artistic interpretations of her visions)

ALSO, how are they self sufficient if they're a closed off city? They aren't harboring secret technology that helps their city run, they are one city and also A CITY so like, no resources, no agriculture. who tf are they getting their things from if they are an invisible city that no one knows about? same thing with how they're getting trades that they wouldn't have been able to make themselves. Also, at this point I would like to propose the idea of wing armor. you have siphons which can idk make shields. HAVE YOU TRIED SHIELDING YOU'RE VERY SENSITIVE AND MASSIVELY TARGETED WINGS FROM DANGER?? in conclusion I'm tired and also a fashion/history nerd, okay bye

Ahhhh yes I see what you mean about Dawn now! Yeah, I always imagine Spring to be like medieval Scotland, and I'm guessing Autumn is medieval England? Rhysand is a Welsh name I believe, so Night is supposed to be Wales??? But the Illyrians are also supposedly POC and there's some evidence of Indian influence there too (barf, night is NOT indian at all), so I'm stuck on that one. Dawn is East Asian while Day is...Middle Eastern? Winter maybe Norway or some Scandinavian country? And Summer I'm assuming is supposed to be from some place in Africa, but it's all very vague. Also more points about Velaris: how is their fashion sense so...modern? Since everything is so closed off...shouldn't their fashion be stuck in the 1600s or whenever they closed their borders? Why don't they open their borders to Dawn since they're sooooo close to the Solar courts supposedly??? Has it not occurred to them that Nuan, who made Lucien's metal eye, could also construct new wings for the Illyrian ladies who got theirs cut off? Or do they just not care? They don't but SJM is trying to convince us they do.

Yeah how in the flying fuck is Night surviving on no industry whatsoever? No trade? No agriculture, nada? Because we have no evidence of the Illyrians producing anything either, besides "warriors." My explanation for this is kind of inspired by @kateprincessofbluewhales 's headcanon, but what if the Illyrians are like mercenaries? They're hired to fight for other courts and in exchange they receive all of their necessities and more which the Illyrians then send back home to their wives and children. This still doesn't explain how Velaris operates, but I'm sure Rhysand crutches on the Illyrians' profits to keep shit going and that's part of why they resent him. I'VE BEEN SAYING IT FOR AGES. WINGS ARE SUCH A VULNERABILITY. THEY MAKE YOU SUCH AN EASY TARGET. WHY IS THERE NO WING ARMOR??? THAT WOULD BE SO COOL TOO. BUT NO, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO JUST ACCEPT THERE'S NOTHING COOL ABOUT THE WINGS AT ALL AND MOVE ON.

[goldenspringmornings]

sooooo excited for this fic to get to a place i'm comfortable actually posting it (im notoriously bad a finishing fic unfortunately) because i wanna talk about my illyrian worldbuilding😭

[kataraavatara]

i know the acotar worldbuilding isn’t built to withstand any scrutiny but i am curious as to how a human diaspora made entirely of recently freed slaves decided they wanted hereditary monarchy as their chosen form of governance and not only that but decided on six human queens instead of kings even though they’re still stuck in generic non period specific misogyny 500 years later. ok fine hereditary monarchy was all they knew from the fae and they just blindly copied it when it came time to decide their own governance. sure. how did they decide which women got to be queens. was there a pre existing slave hierarchy established by the fae that was adopted once they were free or was queenship handed out as a reward for the most distinguished veterans. a combination i’m guessing. kind of lame but what else can you expect from a white author’s take on chattel slavery: faerie edition.

[bayonettesque]

i have a really big issue with the priestess library because the idea we’re supposed to have of it vs the problems that are alarmingly obvious once you examine the concept even slightly are like… sooo different it’s scary. sjm clearly intended for it to be rhysand’s woke king abuse survivor utopia except when you think about it, it’s an isolated camp for heavily traumatised women to live with zero programs in place to overcome their trauma or work towards returning to the outside world— instead, they swear an oath to provide labor for rhys (presumably without pay, because what and where would they spend it?) and be bound to a religious order they don’t really have room to question or leave because defecting from the religion would lead to obvious social isolation and exclusion. it’s an almost cultish setup because like… imagine if a priestess wanted to leave— she has nothing, no family, money, accomodations, or familiarity with the “outside world”. leaving means departing from everything you know, likely to never return, not having learnt to defend yourself or cope with your severe trauma. 

the excuse that “things work differently for the fae” doesn’t exist here because acosf gives us a perfect case study of how these priestesses are quintessentially the same as an average real human woman, wherein yoga, meditation, doing some exercise, getting fresh air, and hanging out with your girlies is enough to apparently re-integrate you into the real world via GWYN and all the other priestesses. WHY is this apparently the first time in like 500 years the powers-that-be have considered a program to rehabilitate the priestesses and give them their own power??? (well. it was NESTA’S idea lmfao the ic would never do that on their own) if sjm wanted this priestess library to actually be the ethical feminist fantasy she thinks it is, couldn’t it have been that the library is supposed to be a transitional place where the ultimate goal is to heal and leave to live a fulfilling, independent, healthy life?? if rhys were the villain this would so easily be a “he keeps traumatised women as slaves to work in his isolated library camp” it’s not even funny holy shit

[gwandas]

One missed opportunity in ACOSF was some sort of resentment/conflict between Emerie and Gwyn and addressing why there aren't any Illyrian females in the HoW.

How should Emerie feel upon meeting Gwyn -- someone who may not been from the Night Court since SJM never bothered to confirm where Sangravah is on a map -- who was cared for so well by the court Emerie was born and raised in? Obviously it's not Gwyn's fault that those same resources weren't provided to Emerie, but it's an interesting contrast between the two characters. After scraping by and fending off abusive family who want to exploit her, what is the diffference between her and Gwyn? Why aren't victims of wing clipping treated the same way as the priestesses in the HoW?

It would've been so juicy. Added an interesting dynamic to the Valkyrie relationship -- especially when you throw in how the NC chose to deal with Nesta's trauma. It would've been far more interesting to read about than three women bonding over smutty books I fear

[alintalzin]

Neat!

Okay I'm a blabber, I cave, I wanna talk about the rewrite with y'all

Spoilers for the REWRITE, obv, but if you do read through, please let me know what you think (good or bad, I won't be hurt I promise)

*please note that fae are not immortal in the rewrite and each current HL is either the child or grandchild of the ruler who was alive during the War

*also, pre- Amarantha's rule, the Courts were ruled by Kings and Queens, during her rule they call themselves HLs but their heirs are still called Princes and Princesses

*if I use the word Aspect and you either can't remember or have never seen me explain the REWRITE lore, just know it's basically a magical saint kinda

I'll add the map at the end because I'm shy and because it's very chaotic - no one is surprised, just know that I can't draw lol

Seasonal Courts

Spring

Spring has two rivers that start on each end of the continent, Lixus and Neda, and they intercept and form an island. This site is holy to the Spring Court and it's where they hold Rites like Calanmai

Tamlin is the only son of Prince Lachlan and Lady Roisin.

(his brothers don't exist in this, sorry)

During the build up to the War, the elderly King Iain didn't want to pick a side but when Lachlan saw that Jurian was basically at their border, he challenged his father to an ancient Spring Rite in the form of a duel and won

Lachlan bargained with Amarantha because he believed her to be an Aspect, giving up a drop of his power, and relinquishing his title.

Tamlin did not share his father's beliefs.

Spring remains the only court in open rebellion.

Autumn

During the war Autumn was ruled by King Sebastian Vanserra

He died in battle defending the humans but Autumn suffered severe casualties, their armies were in disarray and the King's heir was just shy of adulthood

So an upstart lower noble and a brilliant tactician named Beron stepped in, rallied the armies to retreat, convinced Princess Delphine to bargain with Amarantha (certain they couldn't win against her) and became regent

Delphine would bear 5 sons though only 3 are still alive: Eris, Marcel and Lucien

She holds court for the nobility from Vancour, the Forest House, while Marcel oversees things like trade from the city of Ambreville.

Beron and Eris are both UtM

Summer

Summer and the UnderSea share the Isle of Adriata as a capital

During the war it was ruled by Queen Ceto who gave birth to the twins, Proteus and Nereus.

When Proteus realised and admitted he couldn't bow to Amarantha, even to save his people, he gave up his crown and became a commoner.

Prince Nereus fathered the twins, Cresseida and Varian but when he died, the power did not come to them

Instead it went to a young, half-merling man. The son of Proteus.

Winter

The young king of Winter went against his queen-mother's advice and bargained with Amarantha but while her son was away, Queen Aurora sunk the heart of the Court under the ice and turned the surface into a desolate tundra, leaving only the boarders habitable by anyone not born to Winter

The stubborn young king erected a city called Konigshaven and ruled from there

UtM, Winter is represented by the knight, Kallias who maintains that there is no way to force the hidden Court to the surface as no one is strong enough to challenge Queen Aurora

In reality, Aurora has been dead for decades and it is her granddaughter, High Lady Viviane who maintains the Frost

Kallias fought and won the honour to be her (secret) champion

*both Tarquin and Viviane have white hair because they are half merling but the trait is not universal in their courts

Lmao, sorry, I really can't draw so this is all I could do to visualise what I'm saying. This is half the map of Prythian on one A4 page

Ignore the mortal lands for now 💀

[goforth-ladymidnight]

On ACOTAR Faeries and Names

For some reason, SJM undoes most, if not all, of traditional faerie lore in her books. (I haven't read TOG or CC so I can't comment on those.) The cynical part of me thinks it's because faeries can be difficult to write well, therefore she took the easy route; the more forgiving part of me thinks it's because she set out to explore why humans believed certain myths about faeries, but then lost interest as she spent more and more time in the realm of the Night Court. (Side note: I find it odd that SJM chose to emphasize that the Illyrians are NOT really faeries, whether High or "lesser". I honestly wonder why that is.) Regardless, there's nothing very faerie about SJM's High Fae, etc. except for their ethereal beauty and pointed ears and the fact that they can do magic, I guess.

I've already written about Aging and Lying when it comes to ACOTAR's Faeries, and I thought I'd touch on another aspect of faerie lore that SJM chooses to ignore. (Heh, that rhymes.)

Names.

His [Rhysand's] eyes shifted to my face. “What’s your name, love?” Giving him my name—and my family name—would lead only to more pain and suffering. He might very well find my family and drag them into Prythian to torment, just to amuse himself. But he could steal my name from my mind if I hesitated for too long. Keeping my mind blank and calm, I blurted the first name that came to mind, a village friend of my sisters’ whom I’d never spoken to and whose face I couldn’t recall. “Clare Beddor.” My voice was nothing more than a gasp. ~ACOTAR ch. 26

Clare and her family are killed because Rhys revealed that name to Amarantha, even though he admitted later (in the next book) that he thought she made it up. So, Feyre's fears were not unfounded, but once she is Under the Mountain with everyone else, she is still reluctant to give her name when Amarantha asks for it.

Lucien is even brought forward and refuses to give away Feyre's name. For his defiance, Amarantha orders Rhysand to shatter his mind before Feyre finally gives in and shouts her name for everyone to hear. The Lady of Autumn even repays her sacrifice by helping her with one of Amarantha's "household tasks".

What is the sacrifice, though? It would seem that the only reason Amarantha wants to know her name is because Feyre knows hers, and wants to address her "properly":

“Feyre,” Amarantha said, testing my name, the taste of the two syllables on her tongue. “An old name—from our earlier dialects. Well, Feyre,” she said. I could have wept with relief when she didn’t ask for my family name. “I promised you a riddle.” ~ACOTAR ch. 35

In traditional faerie lore, it is said that names have power, so giving a faerie your name gives them power over you. (It is important to note that they cannot take anything from you. It has to be given.)

There is a scene in Hayao Miyazaki's animated classic in which the young protagonist Chihiro signs a contract to work for the sorceress Yubaba. In a beautifully animated sequence, her signature floats away and into Yubaba's waiting palm. She literally signed away her name. Chihiro is then given a new name in exchange: Sen. By the next day, she has already forgotten her original name and her purpose (freeing her enchanted parents). It is only when another ensorcelled young man gives her the bundle of her old clothes with a card in the pocket (with her name written on it) that she remembers who she was, and why she's there.

I just think it could have been very interesting to give Feyre a similar plotline in ACOTAR. By giving Amarantha her name, she no longer has it, and can no longer remember it. (And since the story is told in first person, it's easier to convey.)

How she gets her name back could be handled in one of two ways: Lucien gives back her name like the true friend he is, or she doesn't remember it until the very end.

If we explore the second option, this is what I'm thinking: Amarantha sought to break Feyre in mind, body, and spirit. The one thing she could never take from Feyre was her love for Tamlin.

“I love you,” I said. “No matter what she says about it, no matter if it’s only with my insignificant human heart. Even when they burn my body, I’ll love you.” My lips trembled, and my vision clouded before several warm tears slipped down my chilled face. I didn’t wipe them away. ~ACOTAR ch. 43

In my Faeries and Lying essay (linked above), I think it would have been more powerful for Amarantha to want Feyre to admit to lying about her love for Tamlin. In the same vein, I think it would be that much more impactful for Feyre to admit that even if she does not know her own name, she knows she loves Tamlin, and that's enough.

It's the one thing Amarantha couldn't take from her. It's the reason Feyre went Under the Mountain in the first place. And most importantly, it's the answer to the riddle. Love. And that's enough.

[veenvss]

The Illyrians

History 1/?

main masterlist | worldbuilding masterlist

ACOTAR to me has always had so much potential but it was just ruined by its execution. however, I am a grown woman (I'm 18) and I also have free time so I thought, "Huh, why not do it myself?"

Hi.

This is a post on the Illyrians and their history.

Before the introduction of the Courts in Prythian, the Illyrians controlled most of what is modern-day Night Court. They lived as nomads across the Southern Steppe and the Illyrian Mountains, before the Fae turned them into the violent warfaring people that they are known as now.

The Illyrians in the Steppe emphasised nomadic pastoralism, breeding horses and cattle. They were well known for their horse riding, horse archery and cavalry, despite the wings that were on their backs. Their inventions, such as the chariot and wagons benefitted the people they traded with, in permanent settlements around the Steppe.

The women in these tribes were often married off to men from other tribes, which was a big way that the different tribes created alliances.

These groups favoured the young males in their tribes, and as a result they harshly treated their elders. Some groups withheld food from older people if it was scarce and a few tribes were even noted to have executed their elderly once they became to old to work.

The nomadic Illyrians of the step all shared common cosmological beliefs, which were centred around sky worship. Shamans were highly valued members of tribes and were believed to be able to interact with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness. This was to direct spirits or their energies into the physical world for the purpose of healing, divination or to aid human beings in some other way. In Illyrian antiquity, there have been reports of a third gender, men with more feminine characteristics. These transgender people wore female clothing and adopted their mannerisms. They were often highly esteemed due to the belief that they had better shamanistic abilities than the average Illyrian.

In the mountainous regions of Illyria, where pastoralism isn't as widely available due to the terrain, they were more likely to be hunter-gatherers, foraging for food in forests and streams. Coastal tribes were more likely to fish than hunt other animals. All groups also gathered nuts and berries and other food before hunting for meat. Many of these tribes centred on fish-rich environments, so they didn't have to travel around to find food throughout the year.

It's commonly believed between historians that the hunter-gatherers didn't have a set hierarchy or permanent leaders. Instead, it was believed that the person taking initiative depended on the task that was being performed.

Despite a large amount of their time being spent gathering food, there was also a large focus on gathering other resources, such as firewood, as well as preparing food that needed to be cooked. Despite modern people believing this was a woman's job, this has been shown to actually be their own bias. While women were less likely to hunt large game, they were often out hunting smaller game for children and as a form of social activity with other women.

Once the Fae became a large-scale force among most Pre-Court Prythian, they started driving the Steppe Illyrian north towards the Northern Mountains, taking the steppe for themselves. This created a large issue between the two separate groups, as it created less space for people to forage, and made resources less available due to high demand. This created a lot of inter-tribe violence as they fought for resources.

Eventually the rest of Prythian were split into their separate courts, but at this time Illyrians were still considered their own group of people and independent from the Night Court, which was then considerably smaller than its modern size.

Overtime the Fae continued to push into Illyrian territory, causing a string of battles and wars, known as the "Illyrian Wars" which lasted for 200 years. It ended with Fae control over Illyria, causing the Night Court to be the biggest court by landmass. The wars had destroyed most of the Illyrian land as the Fae preferred to use violent tactics to gain control, such as using the "scorched Earth" technique, spreading famine and disease through the surviving Illyrians.

Fae started to settle across the Night Court. However, the Illyrians were unwilling to give up the land they still had, so they became violent towards the settling Fae. This caused the High Lord and the government to give the Illyrians curfews and restrictions on where they could go. They punished the Illyrians who broke those rules harshly and rewarded the ones who followed their rules with supplies to help the Illyrians heal from the damage the Fae caused.

The Illyrians were forced to play into the Fae's hand to be able to recover from the wars. Illyrian tribes along the northern coast, further away from the Fae's southern control, tried to rally the Illyrians into a rebellion, to gain freedom from the Fae and recover their lost land. The rebellion was shortlived, not many Illyrian tribes joined together and the ones that did had differing views on how to fight the Fae. Once the Night Court government dispelled the revolution, they created a violent punishment, they clipped the wings of every female in Illyria, and for years afterwards, had Fae soldiers stationed in Illyria to clip the females once they reached maturity. It became a ceremony. All the Illyrians in the tribe were gathered and forced to watch as the Fae soldiers clipped the wings. It was used as a show of power, to show the Illyrians the extent of what the Fae could, and would, do to the Illyrians if they kept rebelling against them.

Over time, the Illyrians adopted the Fae punishments into their culture, as a way to keep the Night Court happy, which gave the Illyrians as much freedom as possible. With the adoption of things like wing clipping into their culture, the Night Court used it as a sort of propaganda against the Illyrians, in order to discourage other courts from possibly aiding the Illyrians in the future. They told the other courts that the Illyrians clipped the wings of others of their own choice and that they were brutal, in order to isolate Illyrians and keep them under control.

The War created issues among the army, as Illyrians were forced to fight for a group of people they had no connection with, purely because the Night Court told them to. The Illyrians had some of the biggest casualty counts of everyone, and they didn't receive the same post-war funding and help as other regions did either. Disease spread quickly through the camps and the Illyrians lost more people. This created more issues between the Night Court and Illyria, as the Fae refused to aid the Illyrians, claiming they had their own post-war efforts to deal with. Eventually, the Illyrians were able to recover but it created a larger gap between the Illyrians and the Night Court, as the Illyrians struggled to recover from the war despite the wealth of the Night Court because of their abandonment.

Once Amarantha gained control of the High Lords, the Illyrians, isolated from the rest of Prythian, saw their High Lord, who they were forced to follow, willingly follow Amarantha and her regime. Once again, in order to regain as much freedom as possible, they followed their High Lord and mirrored themselves to him in order to escape punishment, from Amarantha or Rhysand himself.

Amarantha was defeated, and the High Lords returned to full power, The entire time Rhysand was just acting in order to through Amarantha off his court, which only extended to the Fae. He murdered the Illyrians for allying with Amarantha, which they only did to please him and keep the limited freedom that they had gained since the war.

Between murdering them and then forcing them to fight in another war, where once again they suffered one of the highest mortality rates, the Night Court fell worse into favour with the Illyrians than before. This was only further amplified by the fact that two of the most important Illyrians in the Night Court preferred the Fae over their traditional culture and beliefs, which were still hidden among the Fae-influenced culture.

The threat of a new Illyrian rebellion looms near, as they recover from the diseases that spread after the war. The Illyrian distaste for the Fae rule that has plagued them for nearly a thousand years, and the "traitors" that rule over them a fuel for a deadly and violent revolution.

i feel like i'm just writing gibberish at this point because i'm trying to focus on this and then also trying to focus on one piece at the same time

[kspacepirate101]

ACOTAR World Building and the "Tiffany Problem"

One of the things that I always see with the ACOTAR fandom, is using Feyre's sweaters as part of the evidence of SJM's lack of consistent world building. Don't get me wrong, I agree that there is inconsistent worldbuilding, and that it should be way more fleshed out.

However, the sweaters are actually an example of the "Tiffany Problem."

The Tiffany Problem is a phenomena in fantasy/historical literature where something seems modern, and so it pulls the reader out of the story. However, just as the name Tiffany has been used since the middle ages, the item in question is actually historic as well.

Sweaters have been in use since the 16th century, at least. So yes, in a medieval-ish world...a main character could wear thick socks, some form of leggings, and a sweater. The 1500s is more Renaissance than Medieval, but...for modern readers, it wouldn't really change much.

The real issue with the world building is how SJM words it. Instead of saying anachronistic terms such as "sweater and leggings" she could have said, "Thick, warm, cozy, woolen, knit, oversized tunic and hose."

Ultimately, it's the same thing. But, it keeps the reader in the world.

[eudaimonia83]

YES YES YES

i really wanna know more about spring court lore. especially since spring’s population probably skyrocketed and became wayyy more diverse after tamlin started accepting refugees from the other courts during amarantha’s reign. like did the native citizens clash with the refugees? how did spring accommodate for so many new people, especially when they weren’t instituting the tithe so they couldn’t reasonably afford to take care of all of them? did any of them stay in spring after amarantha was killed? like there’s so much potential there, and i wanna know more lol.

[goldenspringmornings]

semi serious question: what’s the faerie equivalent of crocodile/alligator tears? ya know that kinda crying where you can tell the person is being overdramatic on purpose? yeah what would that be in a believable acotar setting??