From Now until the darkness claims us

Please DO NOT REPOST my creations (art/edits/etc) Instagram: @rayonfrozenwings AO3: @rayonfrozenwings SJM, Nessian, Elorcan, Theories Tracking: #usernay

[rayonfrozenwings]

admin

been here a while.

seen things come and go.

while this is mostly a sjm blog...

I reblog what I like, what I find funny and what I appreciate. I reblog thoughtful posts, intriguing posts and posts that might be PSA's. I also reblog things that might be a little critical of the fandom i'm a part of and that's ok. I also gather hyperfixations and sometimes I start a new side-blog and sometimes I don't.

asks are open.

[byjove]

“nobody wants to work anymore” WRONG! bosses do not want to pay people appropriately for their labor

[saedyne]

i love love love learning about my mutuals via the sparsely-connected tidbits of personal lore they drop in the tags. online friends is my favourite text-based rpg

[achillesinhighheels]

everyone is becoming way too comfortable about being horrible people

[rayonfrozenwings]

“There are no High Ladies.” His brows furrowed, but he shook his head. “We’ll talk about that later, too.” - acomaf

Hmmmmmm interesting turn of phrase. Maybe he’s thinking about the past…. I wonder if it’s left open ended or addressed in acomaf. Feels like he is thinking of the past.

[rayonfrozenwings]

Ok ew, forgot Ianthe existed for a hot second and then bam - there she is.

[rayonfrozenwings]

Ok I’m starting acomaf. Hopefully the cringe stays away and I can enjoy this one too.

[opencommunion]

people who tell you to stop reading the news to "regulate your nervous system" do not have your best interests at heart. if following current events makes you spiral you probably need a better analytical frame, not less information

[opencommunion]

and the analytical frame you need is probably dialectical materialism

[opencommunion]

i'm totally crazy, i freak out all the time, but you know what helps me most? learning. reading. studying. discussing. sometimes you do need a nap, but sometimes you need a conversation with someone more knowledgeable/experienced, or a day at the (physical or digital) library. and really i think everyone has a different baseline emotional register that's best for them and their circumstances, but i recommend aiming to feel solid and anchored, not necessarily "calm." of course we won't feel "calm" after reading about genocide. but if we approach what we're reading correctly, it can strengthen our resolve; feed our fighting spirit; show us paths to liberation. a lot of people in my life have diagnosed me with "revolutionary optimism" and wonder how i maintain that mindset but i'm not an optimist by nature, it all comes from studying

[poetic-questions]

—Richard Siken, "Landscape with Fruit Rot and Millipede"

[rayonfrozenwings]

I finished my reread of acotar.

I am so proud of myself I normally get the ick and cannot finish it but being away from fandom the last couple of years allowed me to read it with a fresh perspective.

I still love Nesta. I don’t see what some people in this fandom see. I see Feyre as respecting Nesta even though she drives her crazy. I see her love for her sister even though she also views Nesta as her biggest critic. Any time she thinks of what to do she looks up to her big sister and thinks “what would Nesta do”. She wants to protect her family but she also thinks Nesta will protect herself. The one time Feyre could see Nesta making a wrong move - she told her so (Thomas mandray) and Nesta listened. Providing Feyre assurance that Nesta respected her opinion too. Nesta telling Feyre not to come back is the same as Feyre telling Nesta to not marry Thomas. They are protecting each other. I know that a long time ago there was chatter about how mean she was but I cannot look at her in that way.

So yeah - rereading acotar has made me appreciate Feyre and that sisterly love. And how complicated it is.

[elains]

First off thanks to @yazthebookish for the graphics hehe. I posted this on Instagram already, but tumblr has my heart and so I shall post this here too 😌

This is meant to be a very brief summary of the current open plot-threads that are expected to feature in the next ACOTAR instalments, along with my personal opinion on where they're going to go with it. Silene's Lore Lesson gave us a massive (and frankly, continuity-breaking) lore drop in HoFaS that has direct consequences to the overarching story.

• THE LAND OF DUSK:

What happens to the monsters kept in there? Will it return to its former glory as Avallen did or will it remain a barren waste? This was the home of the Starborn Fae, where Theia ruled, and whose symbol was the eight-pointed star. Who in Prythian currently carries this legacy? Rhys might be Theia's descendant, but it's Nesta who carries her legacy. Nesta who wields the Dread Trove, Nesta who carried the eight-pointed star tattoo, and Nesta to whom Bryce willed Gwydion and directly told her to figure out why.

It stands to reason that Nesta will be the one at the heart of this plot-thread, along with the Valkyries. I highly recommend reading @bookofmirth theory on the Prison as their new home base, which expands upon this thread.

• THE ILLYRIANS:

Another very interesting point of the Crossover was how it expanded upon the Illyrian's origins as beings created by the Daglan/Asteri and who rebelled against their creators. We learned that Truth-teller is part of a set with Gwydion and that it once belonged to Enalius, the Great Illyrian Hero. Not coincidentally, present for all these revelations was the one character in our main group who has the most contentious relationship with the Illyrians, despite being one himself. Like Nesta carries Theia's symbolic legacy, Azriel carries Enalius's.

It'll be up to him — along with Emerie, I believe — live up to it and uncover what it was, what it is, what will it will be to be an Illyria. For more in depth analysis, check my post about Azriel's arc and journey, link also below.

• THE VALKYRIES:

They tie directly with the Illyrians and the Land of Dusk, as far as I can see. The new Valkyries will continue to train, to grow, to be an inspiration for countless other females. Considering we are very likely to explore the Illyrians and Emerie's title of Carynthian, I'd be very shocked if we don't see some of the Illyrian Females wanting to join and follow her footsteps. It probably won't be many, not at first, but it will be a start.

They'll become one of the backbones of the forces needed to fight Koschei. Related to this directly is Nesta, Gwyn, Emerie, and by extension to the Illyrians and as their instructors, Az and Cassian.

• THE HIGH KING OF PRYTHIAN

No High King is Best High King, but it unfortunately exists, and it's unlikely it won't come back up. Much ado was made about Rhys taking it up by Amren for it not to make a comeback, even more so with the crossover putting Rhys (and likely Mor) as Fionn's descendants in Prythian.

There are still some unexplained things there, however: why did the land die when he was murdered? Where the other consequences to these actions? How did the High Lords arise in the aftermath of Theia's departure? Fionn's story is tied to Enalius's as well and neither are done.

• THE PARTITION OF THE DREAD TROVE Another interesting thing is that Theia took the entire trove upon killing Fionn, and yet… The Mask and the Crown vanish halfway through Silene's tale, with only the Harp and the Horn remaining. This begs the question: what happened to the other half of the Trove? Where are the Crown and the Mask in all this? Did someone manage to steal them and rebelled against Theia when she turned multiversal conqueror? It doesn't seem like her to leave them behind, nor Silene to leave them around, but she makes no mention of hiding them.

I wonder how far Silene's knowledge actually goes, what she is intentionally or unintentionally hiding. It's strange that the two objects most relevant to ACOTAR plot so far have been so little touched upon — but we do know an ancestor of Helion used the Mask in the past and it ended where Fionn died, the Bog of Oorid, and nothing is said about the Crown. I think it's unlikely that this will stay unaddressed and how they went missing will be relevant to our characters in Prythian.

• THE MISSING SWORD NARBEN:

Besides Ataraxia/The New Dread Trove, Gwydion, and Truth-teller, there's another death-sword missing, and that is Narben, which is both older and has much darker powers than Gwydion (and Truth-Teller by extent). We don't know if it was made or if it predates the Daglan/Asteri. It was powerful enough to have turned the tide of the war in Hybern's favor. Amarantha was rumoured to have found and discarded it in the sea once it refused to obey her and her generals. Applying Chekov's Gun here, you do not name drop a mythical sword, say it's connected to death, capable of killing most things, raise the question if it's missing or not, and don't have it resurface at one point. Especially when the most prominent enemy is an unfathomably ancient, powerful, and supposedly deathless god.

• THE AUTUMN COURT

This one is rather upfront. The Autumn Court is a problem, it's established as a problem, and we have Beron collaborating with Koschei to most likely overtake the weakened Spring Court (I would, in fact, go so far as say he might want to be High King himself under Koschei). We have established Eris as an ally for a reason. It's the major source of internal conflict Prythian has at the moment, as the others High Lords are mostly reasonable, good people on the same page, and the a behind the scenes villain like Koschei can exploit the most.

I wouldn't be surprised if Beron is actually the one who ends up with Narben to give the antagonists an edge versus the full Dread Trove. Beron is poised to fall, Eris to take his place, and join forces to fight Koschei.

There are other things related to this plot point: What actually went down between Eris and Mor (and what it cost Eris as he so claims), Gwyn's mother being raised in the Forest House, which is too convenient to the established points to be mere coincidence, and the Blood Duel as brought up by Azriel. Again, Chekov's Guns that need to be fired. I don't think the Blood Duel is a red herring; the red herring is that it'll be fought over Elain. It won't. There's someone else with a very, very big grudge against Beron which deserves this catharsis: Helion, over the Lady of the Autumn Court.

• THE CONTINENT:

Mor has been trying — and not having much success — in securing a treaty with Vallahan. Vallahan isn't interested because what's the point, if the Humans are waiting for war? Rask and Montesere are eyeing the Human Lands. The remaining Human Queens are stirring, and also preparing to fight. Vassa, our allied queen, is under a curse cast and her freedom is on borrowed time. Remember that most of these nations declared for Hybern, not Prythian.

They're self-interested, first and foremost. And who has a vested in seeing the Continent descend into war and, chances are, is playing both sides like a fiddle? You guessed —

• THE DEATH OF KOSCHEI THE DEATHLESS

The Greater Scope Villain, Sealed Evil In a Can who can bring the world to its knees if freed and given the opportunity. He's the one pulling the string behind Briallyn and Beron, aiding them in their quest because it suits him. Unless something changes and an Outside Context Problem is presented (which I doubt), our heroes will need eventually face Koschei. He's the one who benefits of all this chaos, as it gives him a chance to strike again and take over the world. The Humans and the Fae are all dancing to his tune; they're all pawns in his great game. It's the same old story: they're collaborating with a villain who doesn't care and will devour them all in the end.

Considering plot progression, the stakes need to go higher, not lower. The threat level needs to increase. This is more easily done by him finally breaking free and all hell breaking loose. Is it that the only way? No. In the Fairy Tales, Koschei is deathless because his death is kept apart from his body, hidden away. I can see Sarah taking a page of Lord of the Rings as she's done before: one group fights the rising chaos presented by Prythian/Beron, the Continental powers, the actual war, perhaps with a free Koschei, whilst another takes the hard journey to find Koschei's death and end him for good.

This last one is inevitably tied to the Band of Exiles, to Vassa — the trapped queen —, Jurian (a descendant of the long-lost Fae Warrior who trapped Koschei? Or maybe just here to be their seasoned general if it comes to battle, who knows, not enough information), and Lucien, who along with Papa Archeron struck the bargain to free Vassa. But do you know who else I think is tied to this? Elain, who saw the onyx box where he keeps something more vital than anything. Elain, who has been itching to do something more and has been consistently denied.

[justwithlu]

I need these damn synopsis to drop🚬🫩 I’m tired of this granola

Same

tbh I won’t be surprised if we don’t actually get the synopsis for book 7 until after book 6 is out. Since they’re apparently one big story and not supposed to be stand alone books, it might be hard to give use the book 7 synopsis without spoiling the events in book 6

[segamascott]

[godserene]

[itsblobross]

Bloomsbury: *gives us crumbs and blows up the fandom simultaneously*

[one week later]

Bloomsbury: “how are all our little hostages peasants fan gworls doing 😇

P.S. don’t forget to preorder [untitled books 6 & 7 with no synopsis or info whatsoever 🤲🤑🤡]”

[bookofmirth]

Back to the work at the acotar fandom factory:

[john-silvers]

They’re all trying so hard to convince themselves that they have nothing to be afraid of. How is running gonna change that?

[mils-666]

<3