May 22, 2024
They haunt me and they hunt me
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They haunt me and they hunt me
I’ve seen people say that Nessian have a different kind of connection that might not be due to the mating bond. If so what do you think this could attest too? Like do you think the next book will only concern Nesta going to the Illyrian camps or do you think it will be more along the plots threads that were left hanging in ACOWAR cause at the moment I’m not sure how they would mesh together
Oh, I think those plot lines could mesh quite nicely. I think whatever power Nesta came out of the Cauldron with is linked to the same power source as the Illyrians and likely Ramiel. Not in the sense that they’re “charging up” but in the sense that whatever ancient Death Goddess and War God or king and queen their people came from, is now somehow linked to Nesta. Or more accurately, awake in Nesta, that same killing power that makes Illyrians Illyrians is quite possibly running through Nesta’s veins. And I think it’s part of what Cassian senses in her/what draw him to her outside the mating bond. But Cassian is also drawn to her as a queen or Alpha-Fae. (For more on that see this post.) I also think Cassian responds to the “illyrian heart” in Nesta. She has the same strength/willpower/courage/ferocity etc. that the Illyrians do. It’s why she can’t exist in Velaris under Rhys and Feyre. She’s not a follower.
Like. When Feyre put that Book together and Nesta stuffed darkness into her veins and mouth in the Cauldron, something else was going on, or awakening in Nesta or somewhere in the world. The wind now moans her name, Cassian saw something in her eyes that scared him. There is recognition for this great and terrible power that woke up and came into the world when Nesta was dumped from the Cauldron.
Devlon said Nesta is a witch and I agree. He hasn’t been wrong yet (that we know of). Plus I love the idea that all the Illyrian males are scared of her. They were freaking tf out when they saw her. People were straight up grabbing women and children off the streets and launching into the sky to avoid Nesta. I AM READY FOR HER AND EMERIE TO START A GIRL GANG OKAY. GIVE IT TO ME. (I AM ALSO HERE FOR THE IDEA THAT NESTA IS THE “WITCH” AKA THE ASSERTIVE FEMALE PATHETIC SMALL-MINDED MEN FEAR AND THEREFORE WANT TO BURN AT THE STAKE. THE FOUNDATION IN DEVLON’S (AND EVERYONES REACTION) TO HER IS ALREADY THERE. IT DOESN’T GET MORE SISTERHOOD THAN WITCHES. I AM HERE FOR THAT METAPHOR, MAAS. GIVE IT TO ME!
I also think that there was enough talk about a human queen having ruled the human slice of land below the wall that as this point I’d put money on Nesta being the rightful heir to the throne. Fae-dom doesn’t have kings and queens, but the human lands do. Maas keeps calling Nesta a queen and she can’t be a queen in Illyria or anywhere in Fae-dom.
God this post went a lot of different places. LOL. I’m sorry.
I just want them to be soft with each other
The text in the picture
You’re doing it!!
I’m doing it!
And what if I tell you I’m writing actual plot points down?
Is it possible for Nesta to become a queen in Illyria? What do you think?
Eh. That seems sticky to me.
First, anything is possible. But world building-wise, it would seem really out of place to suddenly have queens in Prythian. Why have queens and High Lord’s? And Illyrians aren’t the kind of people that seem like they’d accept a queen??? Also as an Illyrian queen she would still answer to Rhys and I don’t think Nesta can be subservient to him. She needs autonomy over herself and the only thing I know that can deliver that to her is to become a queen in a land that does not already have a ruler. So my money is on the slice of human lands below the spring court. (There was foreshadowing for it!)
SECOND AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, to have a white queen rule the Illyrians, who was not born Illyrian or raised by Illyrians feels REALLY ICKY to me. I mean I’m not sure if there is a way to pull that off and not have it be hella hella hella problematic. Like, that’s killing Nehemiah level problematic.
So that’s where I’m at!
In other news I finally can write again
Have a tinka pic for the day
Omg that Nesta Post! I’m so excited about the next part, but I’m really curious about what you mean by “Illyrian!Nesta”. To me its a Nesta that embraces Illyrian culture and is in turn accepted by the Illyrians. I love that but I also think this could lead to a cultural appropriation vs appreciation debate. What do you think?
Hi! Thanks! I was inspired to make that Nesta post to not only explain Nesta in ACOFAS, but to shed some light on why Feyre and Rhys weren’t OOC and why Rhys acts the way he does to her in this book. (I feel bad for all the people who are devastated thinking their faves aren’t worthy of love anymore. THEY ARE! They’re just people though and they make mistakes and are influenced by emotions. It’s okay. It happens.)
So to me, Illyrian!Nesta never meant “Nesta came out of the Cauldron racially Illyrian!” But more the idea that she came out with the same kind of magic that Illyrians possess. The idea that she, at her magical foundation, possesses the same “killing magic” that makes Illyrians who they are.
Now, that’s not to say that having the same magic makes her Illyrian. What I’m saying is that Illyrian culture, as I understand it, has been shaped (as all of Fae-dom seems to be) by the innate magic they possess. And Illyrian’s were born with magic that takes years to learn to control and hone and the more you have, the more Siphons you need. And having more Siphons is seen as a great honor in their society. Illyrian killing magic runs deep in their culture. (To take it a step further: it’s a magic that lives within the ground upon which they live, in the soil within which they grow their food, in the plants eaten by the animals they hunt and kill to eat (yes, I’m making an argument for magical terroir). The magic of Ramiel that Cassian talks about.)
That’s what I’m getting at when I say Illyrian!Nesta. The idea that she, in her heart/soul/core is Illyrian. That she was before she ever became made. She had an Illyrian heart. Rhys acknowledges her Illyrian heart in ACOFAS, but we see Cassian tells us that he knew something was there before she was made. It was part of what drew him to her. (This book make it clear to me that Cassian isn’t just drawn to Nesta because of a possible mating bond, but because of an innate Alpha-Fae nature about her that is shown in this book to be very tied to the idea that she has an Illyrian heart. And also set up for her Death Goddess thing and Cassian’s War God thing.)
So that’s what I mean when I say Illyrian!Nesta. Because it would be totally, ridiculous for her to be a white lady, who looks High Fae, and be racially Illyrian at the same time. (And it would be ridiculous for her to be an Illyrian Queen.)
Illyrian is a race, but it’s also an ethnicity. And because this is a universe where magic exists, it seems as if that may offer a third way to be included into a people.
It’s this idea (that is totally relevant to my life as I am mixed race) that I sum up/express as “You look like one of them, but you talk like one of us.”
To me, Nesta looks like one of them (High Fae, Made), but she talks/acts/is innately Illyrian—or innately something else. (Like a witch! Which is what I think she is.)
If I didn’t explain that right let me know! I understand that concept because it’s my everyday reality/a privilege I have. But I get that it might not translate if it’s not part of your privilege.
And as far as cultural appropriation versus appreciation goes, I had to reference this blog post by @sarah-bae-maas and talk to a few people about this because you’re not wrong. It could turn into appropriation. But I can’t speak to that without first having read the book. I can speculate about it all day. But it’s just speculation. Maas did a good job with ToD, that I’d imagine she’d be just as careful with this next book, too. I’m just not comfortable, at this moment, in speculating about what faults people are going to look for or find in a book that isn’t yet written. I don’t mean that to be rude. I’m just not going to speculate on that.
One thing I do feel comfortable saying, is that I don’t think Nesta will be….accepted by all the Illyrians. And I don’t see her accepting the part of their culture that looks down on females (and maybe a few other things we don’t know about yet). I think she is going to be the metaphorical and literal “witch” that a lot of the Illyrian males want to “burn at the stake” if that makes sense? The foundation in Devlon’s (and all the males) reaction to her has already set that stage to me. (I think if you’re going to preemptively worry about a problematic trope or storyline, white savior seems more likely.) I think Nesta will eventually be accepted by the females and Emerie, and that’s how she will unofficially become Illyrian, or accepted by the Illyrians. I mean…it doesn’t get more sisterhood than witches.
So while the idea of Illyrian!Nesta lives in fandom as a fun storyline where people headcanon her with wings (which could happen in canon, idk) and learning to fly, I see it as wholly separate from what’s happening canonically. But again, that’s not to say I don’t think Nesta could grow claws/talons and or wings. The claws and talons are already there foreshadowed in canon. If she lives with a people who fly, and she can summon talons, then summoning wings (in whatever shape she wants) could happen. It’s all about execution that can make or break an appropriation or appreciation argument. And without the book, I can’t speak to that.
I hope this answers you ask. Let me know if it didn’t.
Nesta HC Acotar 3 - part 2
This is a continuation of my: Nesta is Illyrian-headcanon (that you can find here) and theory, part two of this theory is based off of this interview.
Bookish: You had hinted that Nesta would wind up with a fae, and it turns out that Elain does as well! She’s Lucien’s mate. Was that planned from the beginning or was it something that you thought of as you wrote the sequel?
SJM: So, years and years ago, I toyed with the idea of Lucien and Nesta as an item. But when I actually sat down to write ACOMAF, I realized that the two of them would never work (...) But then I wrote that scene where Nesta and Cassian first meet, and they completely derailed the entire conversation/moment because I literally couldn’t keep them from each other’s throats (in the best way possible).
As soon as I wrote that scene, it shifted not just Nesta’s own journey, but the destiny of some other parts of Prythian and its inhabitants.
Other parts of Prythian? *coughs* the Illyrian mountains and Illyrian steppes. And it’s inhabitants? *coughs* the Illyrians. Especially the female Illyrians. Say it with me - smash the patriarchy!
She also doesn’t begin to confirm or even broach Bookish’s statement of Nesta winding up as High Fae. Why? Because she is Illyrian. SJM doesn’t want to lie.
Bookish: In the first book Nesta is described as “a queen without a throne.” We’ve now seen her, briefly, transformed into a creature that she despises. Aside from her connection with Cassian, what can we expect from her in the next installment? SJM: Nesta definitely has a lot of growing to do. In book three, we see all three Archeron sisters struggling with the aftermath of Hybern. And Nesta and Elain adjust to their transformations in very different ways. Honestly, Nesta is probably one of my favorite characters to write in both of my series. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but there’s something about her that keeps drawing me to her. I don’t want to spoil things, because I definitely have Many Things planned, but Nesta has a major role to play in book three. Everything that went down in Hybern will come into play in the book.
“Nesta will have a major role to play.” I already headcanoned and have already theorized Nesta as needing even more siphons than Azriel and Cassian, because her power is that great, and also as Commander of the Illyrian army (next to and together with Cassian). But what if she becomes the Commander of the Illyrian army out of necessity? “Everything that went down in Hybern will come into play in the book.” What if this statement does not only mean Nesta’s own making, but also the fact that Cassian’s wings got shredded. What if Cassian’s wings cannot heal/heals too slowly? The Illyrians already have a hard time accepting Cassian, a bastard, as their Commander. But a commander who can’t fly? Forget it. (brb crying) Rhys needs the Illyrians’ support and for them to follow commands and stay fucking chill until he says so during this war. But he can’t trust any of the Illyrians to do this, to be 300% loyal to him and the cause, and Azriel is busy being Spymaster and the shadowy little sneaky snake that he is. And so what should The High Lord of the Night Court do? Enter Nesta (taught and trained by Cassian, obviously)