#was skeptical about a nesta story tbh

[rosanna-writer]

So…what about an ACOTAR Regency!AU? Maybe something a la Pride and Prejudice with Feysand?

There's a post I saw on my dash a while ago (I wanna say it was from @temperedink?) about P&P and ACOTAR that came to the conclusion that a true P&P retelling is hard to make work for ACOTAR without more or less twisting the characters into something unrecognizable, which tbh I broadly agree with. At least for Feysand, Rhys is too suave to be a Darcy, you know?

Also A Rake By Any Other Name and As The River Flows are top-notch regency (or regency-with-magic) feysand fics that I highly recommend!

But anyway putting this under a cut because....the thoughts are long.

I DO love the idea of exploring a regency-adjacent setting with fae nobility within the realm of ACOTAR fic. Mating bonds add a ton of interesting wrinkles to the typical storylines you see in a regency setting (Is it less of a scandal if the person you run off and elope with is your mate? Marrying for money vs being with your mate??? In a world where the mating bond is revered above everything else??? The DRAMA!!!)

So I really think to do the concept justice, the fic would HAVE to be, at its heart, three interlocking stories, one for each of the Archeron sisters. Because in a setting like regency, a world where women don't have a lot of economic independence and family reputation has such tangible effects, there are so many difficult situations you can put the sisters in where their choices affect each other. For example, if Nesta follows her heart and runs off with Cassian, she might be happy, but is a bastard-born Illyrian foot soldier going to be able to support her sisters, too? Or will that choice just heighten Elain and Feyre's sense of duty to marry for money? Elain and Lucien might be mates, but since he's Tamlin's emissary and exiled from Autumn, does that mean if Papa Archeron dies, Feyre and Nesta will need to pack up and move to Spring until they're married off?

And then of course.....if Nesta and Elain both follow their hearts, that leaves known awkward wild-child Feyre to "save the day" (assuming this is a scenario like P&P where the sisters can't inherit). There's plenty of potential for Rhys's parents to still be alive (and disapprove or be openly skeptical of Feyre as future Lady of the Night Court, potential shenanigans with his sister causing problems....) OR for Rhys to be more worried about coming into his own as a new, grief-stricken High Lord than finding a wife (and maybe getting pressure to find one anyway).

You could easily wind up in a situation where each sister is simultaneously embroiled in a love triangle of her own (probably something like Neris vs Nessian, Feylin vs Feysand, and Elriel vs Elucien), which sounds INCREDIBLE to read but my god the outlining that would require!!!

AND there's the whole question of if the Archerons are fae nobility in this AU.....where are they from? Velaris? The Court of Nightmares? A different Court entirely????

There is SO MUCH POTENTIAL with this concept, and I may return to it when I feel like I have the bandwidth to write something with like....ten million things going on in the same fic.

#anyway to be clear if anyone wants to write it #consider all my thoughts here up for grabs if that's not clear

[noirshadow]

Me at the end of ACOSF

#acosf #acotar #feysand #nesta #nessian #cassian #was skeptical about a nesta story tbh #a court of silver flames #nesta archeron