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words-writ-in-starlight · 3 years

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What is The Mechanisms ?

The Mechanisms are...a band, technically. In practice, they’re somewhere between a band, an audio drama, and incredibly high-commitment performance art, but they are TECHNICALLY a band.

The more helpful answer is that the Mechanisms are sort of a story within a story, and I’m just going to explain all of it on in-universe terms and you’ll just have to bear with me.

The Mechanisms are a crew of immortals who kill time by kicking around the universe in a sentient spaceship wreaking general havoc and getting up to their eyeballs in various wars. They picked up their immortality courtesy of a woman named Doctor Carmilla, who gave them the eponymous Mechanisms--mechanical organs, limbs, even whole bodies, which keep them from dying--and who has since been thrown out an airlock. The Mechs keep track of all this time (and all these people) they’ve killed by writing songs about it, which you can find on Spotify.

There are two collections of assorted songs (backstories, single incidents, etc) called Tales To Be Told (Vol I and Vol II), as well as four albums! The albums are:

Once Upon A Time (In Space): fairy tales, but fairy tales as an interstellar war between Old King Cole and Snow White, set mostly to folk rock

Ulysses Dies At Dawn: the Odyssey, but the Odyssey on a planet-wide dystopian City powered by the dead and ruled by the immortal rich, set mostly to blues rock

High Noon Over Camelot: classic Arthuriana, but Arthuriana on a long-lost space station full of warring factions, set mostly to...I don’t know if “western rock” is a genre but HNOC sounds like a cowboy movie so I’m going with it

The Bifrost Incident: Norse mythology, specifically Ragnarok, if Ragnarok was about wormholes, Lovecraftian nightmares, and trains, set to prog rock

I know all of these sound COMPLETELY BONKERS but you should actually trust me and give it a whirl. If a whole album sounds like a lot to start with, I recommend Gunpowder Tim vs The Moon Kaiser (a ten minute backstory about their gunner) or One-Eyed Jack’s (a short song about the origins of their First Mate, Jonny D’Ville).

Also I have like 60% of a OUATIS AU of the Kencyrath written if that’s motivating to anyone.

#the mechanisms #'what are the mechanisms' LISTEN...IT'S A LONG STORY #there's a lot of Lore that i kind of elided here so that this post was a reasonably manageable length #but i think you may wish to decide what your investment level is before i drop the intricate interpersonal dynamics on you #the bifrost incident is my favorite PURELY because it will reliably pluck my heart out of my ribs and eat it like an apple #ouatis is my next favorite because pump shanty is a banger #other reasons also but like #that is a whole album that can be BELTED by an amateur and i like that in my music #OH an addendum: the albums DO need to be listened to in order #shuffle tales to be told if that brings you joy but the albums alternate spoken narrative and music and the order DOES matter #i'm also writing a kencyrath au where jame is jonny and tori is drumbot brian but AS EVER the kencyrath fandom is like nine folks so #IF ANY OF YOU NINE FOLKS WANT SOME WEIRD AUS COME GET Y'ALL JUICE I'M WORKING ON SOME STUFF #a queue we will keep and our honor someday avenge #Anonymous #asked and answered

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rayonfrozenwings · 6 years

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Starfall and the Wild Hunt - a acotar/tog fan theory

Ok Guys… another theory… is coming…If I could animate I would make you a pretty video with me talking over the top, but I can’t - so it’s just lots of words.

Preface

Well it WAS Halloween here in kiwi land. (when I started writing this) And it got me thinking about it being the kind of night when spirits can pass through to our world. And I saw a post about faerie gates on tumblr Faerie and wyrd - both have an etymology to the word fate Same word the same/same type of thing Click goes my brain

Wyrd gates/Faerie gates

Ooooo I think

Then I remember on Calanmai where Rhysand said that - all creatures/beasts? get to walk the earth on that day - or some jazz like that. (I thought it was just in reference to Amarantha letting people out but what if it’s something more?)

So I started to wonder if Samhain in the TOG series was a later version of some more ancient ritual… because Elena is allowed to have a physical presence on that night.

REMEMBER I THINK TOG AND ACOTAR ARE LINKED SOMEHOW - SEE THIS ERILEA POST, @sparkleywonderful had some great points and I’m going to expand on one of them, use them in my discussion “think - Sliders; and parallel worlds.”

Ok. So now i’m on the thought path of …. what holidays are there in TOG/ACOTAR that could be linked….

Hopefully you are still with me…

Starfall and The Wild Hunt

Is Starfall a reference to “the wild hunt” in folk lore/mythology.

The wild hunt collects souls that are to be taken to the underworld.

We know that the night court is at- the end of the earth/world -

We know that Rhysand is referenced to as a Hades type in ACOMAF when he took Feyre away for 1 week out of 4 a month. (Hades and Persephone myth)

So if we view Rhysand as Hades and the night court as the edge of the underworld, we would be looking at the wild hunt and those it hunts/captures descending into the underworld.

The Wild hunt has many different leaders.

It’s never confirmed who is actually leading the hunt. But we know that the hunt is to take souls/spirits/people who are out when they shouldn’t be - to the underworld.

Here is a snippet from a wiki article:

The Wild Hunt is a European folk myth involving a ghostly or supernatural group of huntsmen passing in wild pursuit. The hunters may be either elves or fairies or the dead,[1] and the leader of the hunt is often a named figure associated with Woden[2] (or other reflections of the same god, such as Alemannic Wuodan in Wuotis Heer (“Wuodan’s Army”) of Central Switzerland, Swabia etc.), but may variously be a historical or legendary figure like Theodoric the Great, the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag, the Welsh psychopomp Gwyn ap Nudd, biblical figures such as Herod, Cain, Gabriel or the Devil, or an unidentified lost soul or spirit either male or female

The Wild hunt also “abducts” people to the underworld or fairy kingdom.

Seeing the Wild Hunt was thought to presage some catastrophe such as war or plague, or at best the death of the one who witnessed it.[3] People encountering the Hunt might also be abducted to the underworld or the fairy kingdom.[4] In some instances, it was also believed that people’s spirits could be pulled away during their sleep to join the cavalcade.[5]

Is this is why Amren hates starfall? @sparkleywonderful had a thought that perhaps starfall marked the day Amren arrived in Prythian. This post. I’m wondering if Is she afraid of being taken with the wild hunt? Does she think the Wild hunt will see her for what she really is and therefore does not want to risk it. Will this also mean that since Amren used her power in ACOWAR and is now just a “high fae”; she will attend starfall?

Obviously with a lot of these type of stories there are different variation depending on the myth you look at - and some of these variations are just as time passes and stories are told orally, changes are made. Others are what was tales were common to a certain region. So it is very hard to make direct links connecting all myths. But the general Idea is cool - I like the Idea that Starfall isn’t a “pretty holiday” and is a bit more sinister/creepy.

Some don’t view “the wild hunt” as a bad thing and could this be a category our inner circle fall into. Is this what Rhysand thinks of starfall?

Grimm believed that in pre-Christian Europe, the hunt, led by a god and a goddess, either visited “the land at some holy tide, bringing welfare and blessing, accepting gifts and offerings of the people” or they alternately float “unseen through the air, perceptible in cloudy shapes, in the roar and howl of the winds, carrying on war, hunting or the game of ninepins, the chief employments of ancient heroes: an array which, less tied down to a definite time, explains more the natural phenomenon."https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hunt

Now I’m going to switch back to Throne of Glass Keep thinking of Starfall and the Wild hunt, in the back of your mind.

In Throne of Glass On Samhain (Halloween) Elena visits Celaena, she says she is not a ghost. But She is also terrified that someone will find her (Celena says “is it the gargoyles - Elena neither confirms or denies this”) and says she doesn’t have much time. Is she afraid of the wild hunt? Is it because she is a Spirit walking the earth when she shouldn’t be. She says the hounds will find her. And Celena hears howling as she runs back to her room. (ch25TOG)

She also says that they are guarding a gate to another world - is this a gate to the underworld/hades? Dogs are known to guard entrances to the underworld (cerebrus), and we know that the clock tower is a pretty nasty “rift” because during Celeana’s battle with Cain, “spirits/demons” come out of it to torment her while she is in a state of delusion from the poison Kaltain gave her. (Also Rifthold, Ah! Times Rift, both weird “coincidences” from TOG)

In Queen of Shadows, Lorcan calls them Hounds/Dogs when he accuses Aelin of giving them his scent - side note he also refers to her, affectionately, as a bitch.

The wild hunt are known to hunt at different times depending on the tale/myth. But the general consensus is that they come out during winter - from the autumn solstice until the spring solstice. So it is possible that the “wild hunt” and hells dogs are linked.

In Welsh folklore, the Cŵn Annwn or "Hounds of Annwn” ride through the skies in autumn, winter, and early spring. The baying of the hounds was identified with the crying of wild geese as they migrate and the quarry of the hounds as wandering spirits, being chased to Annwn.

Source: Wiki article about “the wild hunt”

The idea of the Wild Hunt, hunting spirits on Samhain, and Amren being afraid of Starfall (this happens to coincide with Nynsar another holiday in spring) In british tradition of the wild hunt it is said that it lasts for 9 weeks ending on Easter (spring time in Britain), They are also known to hunt on holy days and from christmas until the twelfth night.

Then I investigated the Leaders of the Hunt…

And came across this in a wiki article:

Wales: Arawn or Gwyn ap Nudd, the Welsh god of the Underworld.

And I thought - hmmmm Arawn looks an awful lot like it could sound like Erawan.

So I looked up Arawn.

And he is king of the “otherworld”,

Click Click goes Renee’s Brain

He has hounds.

In one myth he is said to do this task with his wife (who turns out to be Hecate in modern paganism).

Hecate - a woman/goddess known for associations with dogs and keys and gates and opening gates. A motherly figure. A triple faced goddess. (I am not touching that theory)

So I also thought of EOS and a couple of Moments - because if I think that Erawan is the Leader of the hunt and therefore king of the “otherworld/underworld?” then his hounds are his “wild hunt”.

The ilken are called his “blood hounds”.

The hounds hunt Lorcan and Elide The ilken can break Lorcans shields (ch9 EOS)

Maeve is also associated with wolves/hounds. Maeve used to have the wyrd keys. Maeve is Erawan’s wife, and a co-leader of the wild hunt or another Victim of the Hunt, trapped in Erilea I haven’t decided. She’s a tricky character to pin down.

Maeve is called the bitch-queen (symbology of being a leader of dogs not just an “affectionate” term) though Hecate as a mother goddess also has these links.

The gods and goddesses who are trying to get home and are using their scions to do so, are terrified of Maeve. Anneith herself “fled” from maeve in EOS on the beach, Elide makes note that there is no tap on her shoulder to guide her. This supports the idea that Maeve is a part of the wild hunt, or at least a threat to Anneith.

So a quick summary of the points so far …

Arawan and Maeve are Leaders of a/the Wild Hunt

With the Loss of the Keys they are unable to “hunt” and move between worlds - though wyrd gates - to collect their spirits/ghosts/victims. Some of these victims are “trapped in Erilea”.

If they are Trapped In Erilea - the hunt are also “trapped” . And trapped with the prey that that took from other worlds.

Amren hates starfall because Starfall is the night the hunt returns to the underworld with their catch. And she doesn’t want to be seen and taken. Perhaps this is because she escaped the hunt before and perhaps that is how a “arch-angel type of character” ended up in Prythian (a greek myth type of world) ACOMAF

Anneith Flees Maeve because Maeve would recognise her and there is a fear of being taken. EOS

Elena is scared of the hounds taking her away on Samhain. TOG (some rifts are said to open without keys - I cannot remember where or when though, it seems like something a stygian spider would say)

The guardians of the portals to other worlds are hounds - just like hounds guarding the underworld. Aka Cerebus?

So are Erilea and Prythian parallel worlds that the “wild hunt” runs through to collect the souls/spirits/and take them to the underworld/otherworld.

Rhysand explains that Starfall is spirits traveling. ACOMAF

And if this is the case

(remember it’s a theory, and I am not a scholar in “the wild hunt” or “welsh mythology” etc etc.just a tog/acomaf/sjm fan who loves seeing parallels in literature)

Then perhaps…

There are multiple versions of the gods because of parallel dimensions

we get reoccurring characters in different guises because of parrallel dimensions e.g. sin eater/bone carver - storytellers/the suriel, baba yellowlegs/the weaver

Perhaps each of SJM’s worlds are similar e.g. the geography matches but there is a subtle difference - and they are not the same because they each draw on a different mythology (prythian - Greek mythology, TOG - Welsh mythology, Amren’s world - Biblical) (kind of like “his dark materials” series and the use of parallel worlds in that. written by Philip Pullman - another great book series, omg links to the subtle knife and acowar could be amazing but i’m not going there right now).

The world of Prythian and Erilea are similar because they have a time difference or one moment/point of difference that separates them (aka @sparkleywonderful ‘s sliders reference on the Erilea post also His Dark Materials and use of ice age to differentiate parallel worlds from Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife)

The Wild Hunt travels through wyrd gates to collect souls/spirits and takes them to the underworld. Possibly traveling across worlds through WYRD GATES.

Hecate (maeve) as the keeper of the keys opens and closes the gates for the leader of the hunt.

When Hecate (maeve) takes the keys the hunt can no longer continue - maybe the “prey and the hunt” are all stuck in the same place. What happened when Maeve and Erawan first came to Prythian? Are his brothers other versions of gods - if Erawan is king of the underworld/otherworld what would his brothers be kings of? (I am not going down that path today)

Stuck in Erilea

So they inter-breed or act as gods/goddesses in Erilea. Erilea has not seen these people before - no-one is like them. We can get “powerful magic uses” as descendants from other worlds. It also explains why the Fae are so different in each world and why our “heroes” power in TOG is so unique.

For Example - Elain + Lucien have children - generations pass (or not) and then this person is taken by the wild hunt from Prythian. Maybe Mala “a goddess” is taken from Prythian and is stuck in Erilea… Mala has the powers of that union to pass down to her children. E.g. flame and fire and light…a daughter of Fate @iamthebonecarver - what do you think?

Or raw magic - can do anything, blue eyes like sapphire, black hair. Sounds an awful lot like a Feysand child or descendant - hmmm and a certain Dorian does have those qualities…

We know that the 12 gods and goddesses who appear to Manon and Aelin in the Witch Mirror in EOS are just trying to get home (to their world).

But if this is the case then perhaps each world has it’s own “mother goddess”, and Maybe Erilea’s mother Goddess is pissed off at another World’s mother goddess. Because there is a lot -a lot - a shit tonne! Of similarities between Maeve and Aelin and Hecate and the triple goddess motif. I’m not going into it because I have not researched/looked into that avenue yet. And I’m not sure I want to. I’ll just say that weird coincidences between wielder of keys/ wolves-dogs/ artemis-deana-anneith vs hecate.

OK if you stayed with me. Thank you and I’m done for the most Part. I’m not writing up a big summary.

But basically - Parallel worlds - Wild Hunt vs our faves - a cluster F*ck of mythologies from everywhere all thrown together. :)

This all started with me having a look into STARFALL I thought talking about starfall could be fun and not too serious… *sighs* And then STARFALL as a representation of the wild hunt in Pyrthain could be cool… and I got away on myself.

*throws hands up*

All I wanted to say was that Starfall could be the wild hunt. I thought of this because I read a book series called the spiritwalker trilogy by Kate Elliott a few years ago (it’s good - I recommend it, first book is Cold Magic) and it had similarities that popped into my head.

So yeah. It’s a theory. A cobbled together theory - that would probably be better explained via video.

A parallel worlds theory which would mean that Sarah’s quote about how the world’s in TOG and ACOTAR aren’t the same - but perhaps you could step through a wyrd gate to see them - would make sense. ALSO DID YOU KNOW SHE WINKED!!! SHE DID A WINKY FACE!!! SJM is Cheeky! haha.

Twitter quote

“Replying to @BookishlyAmber (on twitter)

.@BookishlyAmber TOG & ACOTAR are in the same Megaverse. So you could technically open a Wyrdgate between their worlds. ;) #ACOTARParty”

A DAMN WINKY FACE!!!!

Ok and I am Done for Today! Done!

So Book recommendations from this theory

Spiritwalker Trilogy - Kate Elliot

Cold Magic

Cold Fire

Cold Steel

His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman

Golden Compass/Northern Lights - depending on where you are in the world

The Subtle Knife

The Amber Spyglass

Also the lovely

@paperbacktrash

just told me Philip Pullman has a new book out! What?? - *Renee adds to the tbr pile*

Thank you to some people who have inspired/talked with me - seen me take notes - had a little discourse etc etc.

@sparkleywonderful - for reading my theories and commenting and that sliders reference!

@paperbacktrash - all the greek stuff :D and letting my thoughts run away with me.

@rowaelinsmut and @propshophannah … this one is a parallel world theory, not a same world theory - I don’t know if that is better or worse because I still made a link and it’s not really crossover but still >.< please don’t hate me for finding a possible link.

@iamthebonecarver, @crownedwithstarz for our shared fangirling/theorising

@rhysand-vs-rowan for the Aelin/Elain name thing that could still mean something - because SJM did a damn winky face.

Renee

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