#tog worldbuilding

[anosrepasi]

Chapter 4: Lingurian / Read from the beginning

Chapters: 4/6

Fandom: The Old Guard

It is a long time, 400 years beneath the water.

--

A coda fic for Lingua Franca.

[lowenandbehold]

🌟 Exciting Roleplay Partner Search! 🌟 (Maybe a lil desperate too)

Hey there! I’m Low, a passionate 25+ roleplayer (she/her) with over 13 years of experience crafting intricate stories in a semi-lit to novella style. I’m on the lookout for fellow 21+ adventurers who are eager to dive into the worlds of our favorite fandoms!

I’m particularly excited to explore Throne of Glass, where I’d love for you to embody the fierce and enigmatic Rowan Whitethorn, or Fourth Wing, with you as the captivating Xaden Riorson. I always double up, so rest assured, I can bring any character to life that you desire!

World-building is my jam, and I thrive on OOC chatter to flesh out our characters and storylines. I’m all about taking the core plots of these two series and spinning them into something fresh and exhilarating that we can call our own.

Here are some of my other fandoms and the characters I’m eager to explore (character I’m looking to play against):

Prison Break (Michael Scofield): Let’s escape into the thrilling chaos!

Fruits Basket (Shigure or Kyo): Dive into the emotional depths and complexities of the Sohma family.

Inuyasha (Sesshomaru or Inuyasha): Unravel the tapestry of adventure and romance in feudal Japan.

FMA/FMAB (Edward or Roy): Explore the intricacies of alchemy and sacrifice in a world filled with wonder.

Maid-sama! (Usui): Let’s bring the playful dynamics of Misaki and Usui to life.

ACOTAR (Azriel or Rhysand): Immerse ourselves in the intrigue and allure of Prythian.

I’m also open to OC x OC scenarios, though I have a bit more experience with canon characters. If you’re as excited as I am about crafting narratives and building rich worlds, let’s connect and create something unforgettable together!

contact me on discord: Chanellenai or like this or shoot me a message here!

[meliohy]

Need a new small but active and chill (and a bit crazy) fandom

[sirendeepity]

Tell me you use one specific tab more than the others without telling me you use one specific tab more than the others, I'll go first

[fenrysmoonbeamswife]

I always say that if someone told me a different person wrote Throne of Glass and CC 1-2 I would believe them no questions asked

Throne of Glass was the first series that I fell absolutely head over heels for and it has stayed at number one all these years. I adore the first two Crescent City books and they are an incredibly close second to Throne of Glass. But the rest? I could throw them in the bin and never look back. The only reason I even read ACOTAR anymore is Nesta and even that doesn't feel like enough anymore

I think SJM has just become such a lazy writer. It's like there was this spark in TOG and CC that's missing in ACOTAR. Sure they're not perfectly written don't get me wrong but they feel so much more cohesive, the characters have more depth, the stakes are higher, the worlds have more order. ACOTAR has flimsy worldbuilding to begin with and she can't even stick to it. She has also self inserted so much in ACOTAR it's unbelievable and it is ruining a series that had so much potential. And she could still salvage it but I don't believe she will. The original draft of HOFAS was thrown out and the version we got was written in a few weeks and it absolutely shows. What a mess of a book. It's like anything even associated with ACOTAR automatically loses quality. Maybe because it's arguably her most popular series she thinks it doesn't need as much effort. People have clearly shown they will follow along with whatever she says whether it makes sense or not so maybe it's true but I think it could have been so much more. And it's crazy that people will demand better from indie authors and smaller authors but SJM can throw her fans support right in their faces and no one bats an eye

[bonniesfamiliar]

I HAVE TO RANT.

The only series of SJM I can ever read is TOG (Throne of Glass) and that's it.

That is the only one of her series that has the best worldbuilding, plot twists, romance and characters.

ACOTAR RUINED fantasy novels for me and not even in a good way.

I mean, in a bad way, that I can't pick up a fantasy novel anymore, in fear that it'll be like ACOTAR.

Yes, I used to be a sweet summer child who thought ACOTAR was amazing, Rhysand was so romantic and Tamlin was a tool.

I was the tool.

I'm now in college and I read ACOTAR & ACOMAF & ACOWAR last year.

I stopped after ACOWAR because NEVER FUCKING AGAIN WILL YOU CATCH ME READ THAT SERIES.

I can't even begin with the non-existent lines between misogyny and romance and hypocrisy and the lack of actual world-building and how I NEED to drag the Archeron Sisters FAR FAR AWAY, YES ALL THREE OF THEM.

[separatist-apologist]

At this point I just like your posts with just skimming through it because I know your big, mature brain won't let me down with your opinions

And I need people know sjm is NOT a good writer lol. Just because she's famous doesn't mean she's the best one out there. Acotar is a missed opportunity at best. And most people who are hard-core fan of these book thinks these books are perfect and not because sjm keep retconing and changing and forgetting her own goddamn plot so they take everything for what it is. I've seen people criticised Mor and Feyre for leaving some dreamers at CoN and they don't care about them. No babes sjm just forgot about it all fkn together!!!

Okay I have thoughts about this. I'm once again slapping it under a cut just because its long. These are just my thoughts, feel free to disagree

There is nothing wrong, just to be clear, with SJM being a person's favorite writer. I think she is an entertaining writer and I think begrudgingly everyone in this fandom needs to admit that. I think she creates very interesting characters and places that people want to know more about and her writing is very accessible which feels like a burn but I swear isn't.

I don't think she's a bad writer, personally, but I do think she's just not interested in her own details or worlds the way her fans are, and I think this is true across every book series she's written. I think her problem is she writes the way I do- she knows how her stories end, she has a few key scenes in mind, and she figures the rest out as she goes.

This felt pretty evident in TOG, too- you could watch in real-time as her plots changed and she undid things it felt like she'd been building toward. ACOTAR isn't any better in that regard because I GENUINELY do not think she knew what she was doing plotwise when she started the series and it came to her as she went which is why the whole Amarantha things feels so ?????????

Even in TOG, SJM is not interested in the political maneuverings of her characters, the governing process, her political landscape or ANY of the things that a lot of people get frustrated by, to circle to your CoN plot. I think she relies very heavily on "x says they care and I'm telling you they're a good person, so the assumption is they're also a good ruler and we don't need to explore that any further". SJM drops these little pieces of lore like about Mor's cousins or the women of Illyria or whatever and then doesn't do anything with it or even recognize, in my opinion, the conclusions her readers are drawing.

And I think its because to her, she's told you what you need to know. Rhys is a GOOD ruler because the people of Velaris love him AND because she tells us so. Tamlin is a bad ruler because he exacts taxes on his decimated population AND she tells us so. And when people examine those statements, it starts to crumble, in my opinion, which is why I think people get defensive. They don't CARE about the political workings of this world, they just want to read about hot people doing hot people shenanigans.

I do think that going to a SJM book for thoughtful worldbuilding and an interesting magic/political system is a mistake. Having read every series she's ever written, I do not think this is her strong suit and I'm tired of being told I only think so because of internalized misogyny. I think SJM is a good character writer- her characters are compelling, and even anti's typically have a favorite character they wish had been better fleshed out or had been done more with or would be better explored in future books.

This is all over the place- I'm just writing my thoughts as they come to me. Ultimately, I think SJM's books typically don't stand up to heavy scrutiny and that depending on what you're looking for in a book, you're going to come away with different levels of enjoyment. For me, I hadn't read anything fiction in like, six years because I'd been knee deep in academia and it was the first thing I read just for fun and it WAS fun. It IS fun, even now. It's a brain off read. For better or worse, ACOTAR isn't complicated or hard to understand- SJM tells her readers what to think AND feel all the time, so you don't really need to think about any of it.

But when you read other fantasy in her genre, it becomes clear that like...oh. This is just mediocre. In some places it feels like a poor retelling of other stories (TOG has HEAVY LOTR moments, for example) and thoughtless culture stealing that feels offensive in places (CC feels especially bad in this regard given how she's stitched together like, 3-5 different cultures without a good understanding of any of them).

I'm not saying anti's shouldn't still discuss their issues with it. But I will say that if you're looking for a well fleshed out world and a political system that is interesting to read and characters who are consistent and don't bow to the whims of the author and plot, you're probably going to have a hard time with ALL of SJM.

[sixth-light]

Fic meme

List five of your least-popular fics, as well as when/why you wrote them (tagged by @themardia)

a beginning (TOG/WoT, Andy & Nile, gen) - If I recall correctly this was in response to a 'cross your newest and oldest fandom' challenge, and well before WoT crashed back into my life with the TV show in late 2021! I've got a whole lot more worldbuilding for this tucked away in the back of my head somewhere...

The Waiting Game (RoL, Peter/Beverley, Peter & Thomas) - it's tagged 'ask box fic' and I think I would have written it as part of a whole lot of post-Hanging Tree prompts, but the years have eroded my memory of who prompted me and what exactly they prompted me.

they choose to take you in (Court of Fives, Bettany & OC) - a Yuletide fic for a very small book fandom which features the clash of a matriarchal and a patriarchal culture; I was obsessed with the idea of a longed-for male heir (still in utero at the end of the series) being...whoops, not that.

The Sight of Other Skies (Eternal Skies trilogy, Samarkar & Tsareg Edene) - another Yuletide fic for a book fandom, ft. female friendship, but mostly an excuse to roll around in the series worldbuilding.

The Retirement of Gabriel Argent (Daniel Blackland series, Gabriel/Max) - I am extremely proud that I wrote the first fic on AO3 for this very tiny fandom. It was the unusual-for-me case of finishing a book trilogy and being absolutely unable to move on without getting this post-canon idea out of my head.

Tagging: @emjee, @raedear, @darlingofdots, @highladyluck, @butterflydm, and anybody else who feels like doing this!

[aelinfireheartgalathynius]

This may or may not be a controversial opinion but I do not understand why ACOTAR is Sarah's most popular series. It is, in my personal opinion, by far her worst one. I know people say the first TOG book is her worst book and that's fair, but I'd rather read TOG1 than ACOTAR1 if I'm being honest. TOG as a series is leaps and bounds ahead of ACOTAR in worldbuilding, characterization, plot, continuity and, honestly, quality in general — again, in my opinion. I'm glad more people have found Sarah's work, but it irks me that ACOTAR gets almost all the praise and attention and the vast majority of the good merch options.

[jue-viole]

Chapter 5: Time for Holidates

Rak: Slow down, turtle! 

Khun chuckles.

Khun: But I thought you preferred us to be fast and turtles are fast in the water!

New chapter of my ToG Fanfiction is out! If anyone wants to read! Chapter 5: Time for Holidates

Chapter 4 is also now out on Ao3. As always, I'll be updating earlier on ToyHouse. But if anyone wants to follow the FanFic there, here's the link. ^^

[longsightmyth]

Part of the problem with ToG is frankly the shallow worldbuilding, which I wouldn't judge as much except that everyone and their second cousin tries to sell the series as a grand sweeping fantasy. Where are the different cultural norms? Where are the different ENVIRONMENTS and how they influence how people live/interact? Different clothes? Accents? Perceptions?

Why has there been NO social change?!

Why does every government and monarchy operate EXACTLY the same way?!

Why does EVERYONE have the same legends?!

We get a little bit of different environment with the southern continent but that honestly just drives home everything else with the giant question: how did a nation of horse cavalry conquer a nation of giant bird cavalry who live in unclimbable mountains

[bookishfeylin]

And if we’re going by SJM’s standards, Tamlin’s red flags in book 1 is her fae standard, and therefore not actually red flags according to her worldbuilding. So even by those standard, Rhysand, Cassian, and Rowan are all worse, often mirroring the bad guys (Beron, Eris, Maeve, Amarantha) more than the bad guy Tamlin is supposed to be.

I haven't read TOG so I truly can't comment, so I'll tag @worldsnotsaid who can hopefully help with the Tamlin-Rowan comparison, but for the other ACOTAR characters--yes!

As I've said in all of my posts where I discuss Tamlin's red flags, he certainly HAS them, but I've yet to see anyone name a red flag he has that Rhysand doesn't also exhibit. While I don't necessarily agree that other characters are more of a bad guy than he is, ACOTAR!Tamlin does not stand out much from any other male in the rest of this series. Is he a significantly older male with power and influence courting a younger less powerful woman? Yes. Is he violent, possessive, and jealous to a degree (though it's not nearly on ACOMAF! Tamlin's level)? Yes.

But so is everyone else. It doesn't work as a red flag because everyone acts that way. If we indict ACOTAR!Tamlin, then either EVERYONE has red flags, or it's "just how faeries are" and we leave it at that. Is Rhysand a significantly older male with power and influence courting a younger less powerful woman? Yes. Is Rhysand violent, possessive, and jealous to a degree? Yes. Is Cassian a significantly older male with power and influence courting a younger less powerful woman? Yes. Is he violent, possessive, and jealous to a degree? Yes.

And i have more to say on Cassian especially in ACOSF because... he literally jailed Nesta and laughed when she tried to leave and hurt herself falling down the stairs? Like at least, at least, ACOMAF!Tamlin didn't LAUGH that Feyre couldn't escape the manor. It's a miserably low bar and Cassian can't even clear it. He locks up Nesta and then enjoys it. Disgusting. How is he on ACOMAF!Tamlin's level of bullshit?

Is Azriel a significantly older male with power and influence courting a younger less powerful woman? Yes. Is Azriel violent, possessive, and jealous to a degree? Yes (from what little of his personality we've seen especially from that ACOSF bonus chapter... yes. Very much so)

ACOTAR!Tamlin is no worse than the bat boys (or at least, he's not worse than Azriel, given Rhysand has molested and drugged and mindraped Feyre and Cassian has locked up Nesta and is comparable to ACOMAF!Tamlin so...) ACOTAR!Tamlin truly doesn't stand out in this series. It makes calling ACOTAR!Tamlin a walking red flag very very HARD when he's objectively not worse than the main heroes of the story--unless they too are walking red flags.

[brainrotcharacters]

tog and acotar are iconic because on one series there's nothing but pettiness and bickering and childish bullshit and then the other series is fantastic worldbuilding and elaborate characters

[shadowqueenjude]

The fandom is so lucky to have you! We appreciate having you here and all that you contribute to it ❤️❤️

1. What brought you into the fandom?

2. What character(s) do you feel the most connected to and why?

3. Out of all of SJM’s books, which one means the most to you and why?

4. Out of all of the SJM couples (fanon, canon, endgame, etc) which one means the most to you and why?

Keep doing you ❤️

This is so sweet! It made my day🥹

1. I finished the ACOTAR series late 2023 and I was devastated to find out that it wasn’t completed! It’s soooooo hard waiting for the next installment in a series. I went through this with The Land of Stories and The Trials of Apollo too 😭😭😭. So yeah I searched online for Elucien/pro Lucien/anti IC content and I couldn’t find shit ANYWHERE. The only place I even saw some decent content was on Tumblr, so I started posting my analyses and rants and writing about ACOTAR and it turned out many people agreed with me! It was such a relief to finally find Lucien stans who also saw holes in SJM’s writing!

2. I resonate with Nesta the most. She’s just so relatable and human to me. First with the parental trauma (real), second with feeling like they’ve disappointed everybody because they weren’t able to do things that no teen girl should have to do, pushing people away because she’s afraid they’ll leave, spitting facts and everybody getting mad at you for it. And Nesta’s modesty: damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I’ll never forgive SJM for robbing her of her modesty, but it’s honestly reflective of how women like her are treated irl. My own family wants me to be more modest (i’m already pretty damn modest) while the outside world wants me to be less modest, and it’s really frustrating being put in a box like that and not being able to be yourself. Nesta’s hard shell soft interior is me-core.

3. I think by far SJM’s best book is Tower of Dawn. The worldbuilding, the romance, the plot, the chemistry between Chaol and Yrene (and Nesryn and Sartaq) was perfection. And Chaol being a genuinely flawed and human character in a world full of Fae feeling useless and learning to grapple with himself and find his purpose and a man who had always prided himself on his body learning to see that he is so much more than that, that he is as much a man with his wheelchair as he is without it, and Yrene, a character who rules by peace and healing, not violence and destruction, showing everybody how strong she is…well, it’s unlike so many of SJM’s books and she didn’t write it to be popular and tropey (Chaol is wildly unpopular in the TOG fandom) which is why it’s so good.

4. My favorite SJM couple that is already confirmed endgame is Elide and Lorcan from Throne of Glass. God, I love them. Elide, the cunning little witch with a limp and innocent eyes, showing just how strong she can be, wielding Lorcan’s axe (😍) and saving him on the battlefield. Manipulating everybody with a few choice words and a flutter of her eyes. Lorcan being utterly mesmerized from the start. Being a menstruation king and taking such good care of her during her periods. Washing her clothes, bringing her dinner…i mean he is so malewife. Elide being a canon ace queen who only engaged in sexual activities after she trusted and loved Lorcan so deeply that she would allow herself to be vulnerable with him. Elide being sassy as hell and Lorcan being into it. Another human, very real character who is a survivor and quite unlike any other character in the SJM-verse.

Aside from that, Ruhnlidia is 🔥 and amongst those which aren’t technically canon endgame yet, Elucien. The political couple. The fashion-forward couple. The charming couple. The regency couple. The brown-eyed couple. The nonviolent couple. They’re the only two who know they’re mates from the start. Arranged marriage forced proximity trope. The tension, the yearning, Lucien as a fucking male lead…gahhhhhhhwodnwksnaklahiknj

Anyway thanks for the ask!

[azsazz]

Lol I love how you opened a can of worms with this discussion 😂😂 but it needs to be said. One thing I’m super grateful for is that as time passes by, people seem to be growing more critical of sjm’s writing than they initially were. It goes feel like she’s gotten lazy. Someone once said acotar feels like a fanfic of another series that exists, bc fanfic relies on the reader’s precious foundation of knowledge of source material, which makes sense bc the worldbuilding in acotar is barely there. “The king of hybern” doesn’t have a name??? Half the characters are nameless and everyone else doesn’t have a last name. Her plots are becoming less and less story driven, she recycled “redemption” arcs in each book, there are SO MANY inconsistencies in the plot. I could go on but I’m glad people are calling her out bc she’s getting lazy and greedy and doesn’t mind growing rich off fans she doesn’t care about and characters she doesn’t care about either. The fact that she’s the same woman who wrote tog is actually mind boggling

OH BOY DID I OPEN THE CAN OF WORMS IM THRIVING THO this has actually turned my day around im having so much fun

why does legit every character have daddy issues?

i mean like i said she's just reusing everything she's ever written because the nameless thing worked once, but now she's doing it again and again.

HER NET WORTH IS 10 MILLION like plz calm down sis take your time people will still eat it up if you plan it nicely! 😭

sometimes i think she thinks she's an actual celebrity or something

also i hate the way she acts in some of these online interviews i've seen. like she thinks she's the shit it's kinda funny to watch

[thefoulbeast]

PLEASE talk more about your roadside picnic pathologic au, that sounds like the most fascinating au ever

allow me to go off heeheehee >:) >:) (incoming wall of text of worldbuilding)

i talked abt this au a lot with my friend ksu and rilya so thanks for letting me bounce ideas to them.

Main things:

-it is set later than pathologic, around the 70ies or 80ies. But mind that the setting is eastern Russian steppe so the advancements haven’t quite reached so far.

-ToG and the surrounding steppe are a Zone (as well as a few small neighbouring villages and single-fence farmhouses). There are even some outcroppings of new-growth forests since the visitation. Theres all the weird physics fuckery going on – graviconcentrates, happy ghosts, thermal anomalies, hell slime etc. There are also various artefacts that human scientists struggle to make out the use of (basically u know the drill if u read roadside picnic). Since the old town and the abattoir are at the very epicentre of the visitation they have the highest concentration of loot and also danger.

- The new town – the place everyone settled after the Visitation is a couple of days by foot away, flush against the edges of the Zone.

-this is set some 25 years after the Visitation so the older generation stalkers have mostly died out and the new gen is taking over. There’s a lot less swag to be had in the outer parts of the zone, though stalkers still try.

Important bits:

-Daniil is a troubles scientist looking for a last hope to save his research. He hears of the zone and that people have been brought back to life in it and comes as fast as he can to the East. He’s still researching death and dying and how to prevent it, and there is a Thanatica in the capital.

-Artemy and Stakh (The Booha and The Mule, respectively) are stalkers. They’re lowkey famous in the new town for going on risky trips into the deeper parts of the zone where there’s still swag to be had.

-daniil comes to town with full intention to go to the zone to find Mother’s heart, a fabled artefact that can bring the dead back to life, which is located in the zone. Andrey suggests he go to the booha and mule for help with this dangerous mission.

-Artemy is the son of a first generation stalker, Isidor. Thus he has some non-human characteristics (again, par the course for- roadside picnic) and a very keen sense of the Zone. Almost supernatural, in fact. Which is mostly why he and Stakh can take on such dangerous jobs. They have a strict moral compass though so they refuse to bring back anything they know to be dangerous, like hell slime (looking at you, redrick. Smh).

-Isidor trained both artemy and stakh to be stalkers but artemy had a fallout with stakh somewhere along the line whereing stakh went on his own for a few years and lost a whole lot of companions (read: overconfident greenbeak stalkers) in that time which left him pretty jaded and wary of the zone. Hes sort of antithesis to artemy’s outlook – who loves the nature of the zone and the steppe and the zone-specific flora that grows there (twyre).

-artemy has a garden where he tries to cultivate twyre. He tends to it between trips and lara tends it when hes gone for more than a few days. He makes teas out of them that might or might not be slightly psychedelic.

-The Kin. Their settlement was a bit further from the epicentre of the visitation so more of them survived than the townspeople. There is still some struggle for the Kin to find work in town due to old attitudes and racism, so Kin are more likely to take up being stalkers because it might be high risk but its also high reward if you get swag (I am drawing certain parallels between being a stalker and being a butcher – a specific type of fear / reveration is reserved for them. And you can typically tell a stalker by their clothing, the smell of the Zone steppe clinging to them).

-clara is also the child of an older gen stalker, but she’s a lot less human than artemy. She’s chosen to give up on life in the new town and lives exclusively in the zone as a trickster, fucking around with any stalkers she comes across, either turning them all around ang getting them lost or helping them out to where theyre trying to get, depending on her mood.

-andrey owns the bar the stalkers favour in town and he also deals in selling off all the swag they’ve gathered off to the highest bidder, be they rich people, scientific institutes or anything shadier. Peter deals in turning stuff like black sparks and the little rings that spin forever into art and architecture. He’s very set on incorporating the alien tech into human lives. He and Andrey tinker a lot with engineering with the artefacts.

thats about what i have for now. more to follow... if u have any additional questions i would love to answer them <3