#or how James was the one who really hated Alastair

[layla-carstairs]

Cassandra Clare writing the pre-tlh short stories and then forgetting about them & what they had established as canon when actually writing the last hours is my villain origin story. like it makes me so violent. and I get things change as the writing process goes on but imo as an author you have a responsibility to abide by what you previously wrote & published. you don't get to pretend that it just never happened.

#it's cheap & annoying & takes away from the final project #even just some acknowledgement would have fixed the problem! #like with James being the 'leader' of the Merry Thieves when in the short stories it was very well established that was Matthew #or how James was the one who really hated Alastair #and Thomas would always defend Alastair which meant having conversations about Alastair nearly impossible without upsetting someone #there's countless examples of this it makes me want to pull my hair out #as for something like the family tree. I would have rathered cc just explained the situation to us fans #like just *tell us* the family tree was written before tlh was really a thing & because of that it's not canon anymore #there wasn't really a need for an canonical explanation (especially since it was so random) #I doubt anyone but fans cared about it anyway #by fans I mean hardcore fans who don't just read causally. like ones who get her newsletter/follow her on tumblr and twitter etc #the last hours #chain of gold #chain of iron #chain of thorns #james herondale #cordelia carstairs #lucie herondale #matthew fairchild #thomas lightwood #alastair carstairs #christopher lightwood #anna lightwood #jesse blackthorn #grace blackthorn #the shadowhunter chronicles #tsc

[tycarstairs]

ok i need to talk about alastair for a (long) moment bc i love him.

this got a lot longer than i expected it to btw so ig it’s just for the alastair stans bc it’s basically just a character study lmao

first of all, there’s obviously this:

“I wanted you to have a childhood, a thing I never had. I wanted you to be able to love and respect your father as I never could. Every time he made a mess, who do you think had to clean it up? Who told you Father was ill or sleeping when he was drunk? Who went out and fetched him when he passed out in a gin palace and smuggled him in through the back door? Who learned at ten years old to refill the brandy bottles with water each morning so no one would notice the levels had sunk—?”

like he put so much energy into making sure cordelia could grow up loving and adoring her father in a way he was never able to. from age ten he was hiding his father’s alcoholism, even before he started at the academy.

“Alastair never acknowledging any of it, laughing it off, turning her attention in some other direction, always, so she did not dwell. So she would not have to.”

and then he got to the academy and had bullying and beatings added on top of all that.

“They … let’s just say that by the end of the first week, I had been made to understand my place in the hierarchy, and I had the bruises to remind me should I ever forget.”

like… does this excuse bullying? no, it doesn’t, but it does explain it, especially after he had taken all that for a year:

“After about a year of being knocked around,” Alastair went on, “I realized I could either become one of the bullies, or suffer for the rest of my school days.”

and as he says himself no, he didn’t beat anyone, didn’t get his hands bloody, but yes, he was a bully to save himself from the beatings.

and again, this does not excuse the bullying because of course that’s still bad. i just feel like a lot of people really fucking underestimate how much growing up with an alcoholic parent can affect you. especially when 1) you actually know about it, and 2) you’re the one who has to deal with it from age ten, and 3) they verbally attack you when they’re drunk (as we also saw when elias talked to james)

and then we get to this:

“Then you lot arrived, a bunch of boys from famous families, too well brought up to understand at first what went on far from home. Expecting the world would embrace you. That you would be treated well. As I never had been.” Alastair pushed back a lock of hair with a shaking hand. “I suppose I hated you because you were happy. Because you had each other—friends you could like and admire—and I had nothing like that. You had parents who loved each other.”

and does this excuse the way he treated them? again, no. but once again, it does explain it. alastair had dealt with so damn much since he was a kid so of course he’s gonna feel jealousy. alastair isn’t white, he’s never been able to go anywhere and expected that the world would embrace him as he put it, so that’s yet another thing he was more than likely jealous about.

and he knows what he did was wrong. he knows there’s no excuse, he knows they would all be well within their right to hate him for the rest of their lives if they wanted to, and i feel like so many people forget that?? alastair never expected to be forgiven for any of this.

and then we get to his sexuality and charles.

if i did the math right, alastair would’ve been either 16 or freshly 17 when he started dating a 23-year-old charles and to quote cc:

“it was a bad and unhealthy relationship, and i think the age gap is part of that.”

anyway, there’s one quote i’ve had in my mind ever since chog, and it’s when alastair asks charles, “If this is not what you came for, then why are you here?”

this implies that charles is only ever there for one thing. like, alastair is in love with this man and he wants to show that but charles isn’t letting him.

not to mention that charles is also dismissing alastair’s wishes:

“And I thought that you would agree to marry too.”

“That I would marry?” Alastair sprang to his feet. “I have told you over and over, Charles, even if I did not have you, I would never marry some poor woman and deceive her as to my love and regard.”

alastair having to tell charles over and over again that he’s not marrying a woman and charles still assuming that he will like… sir 🤨 he said no 🤨

anyway. then there’s to how he felt about his sexuality:

“Father’s weakness is not your weakness.”

The fire in the grate had nearly burned down. Alastair’s eyes were luminous in the dark. “I have my own weaknesses, as you well know.”

and after this when cordelia tells him that love isn’t a weakness, he responds with “isn’t it?”

like this man is comparing his own sexuality to the way his father treated him. you cannot tell me he was always okay with being gay because he so clearly was not, especially not with charles trying to keep him hidden and trying to make him marry a woman.

and after elias dies:

“I can’t mourn,” he said in a choked voice. “I cannot mourn my own father. What does that say about me?”

his relationship with his father was so ruined to the point where he couldn’t mourn him because he wasn’t able to love him in the way cordelia was, likely because he mourned his father already when he was 10.

and there’s also some of cordelia’s observations in choi:

Some months ago Cordelia had learned the emotional cost of Alastair’s interventions, the invisible scars he worked so diligently to conceal.”

the emotional costs being this:

“She knew Alastair was not always like this—she knew he could be kind, sweet, vulnerable even. She knew her father had broken his son’s heart a dozen different ways, and Alastair was doing the best he could with the pieces.”

like. elias has been breaking alastair’s heart over and over basically in every possible way since he was at least 10 so he’s really just doing what he can to stitch himself together at this point, the exact reason he put up walls.

“But it didn’t help for Alastair to behave like this, to retreat behind a cold facade as cutting as glass.

The way James retreated behind the Mask.”

alastair is basically just one big defense mechanism.

we also have thomas’ observations about alastair:

“There was only one other person Thomas had known with eyes like that. Not golden eyes, but dark, and so sad—he had always been drawn to that dichotomy, he thought, of the cruelty of Alastair’s words, and the sadness with which he said them. Sorrowful eyes and a vicious tongue. Tell me, he had always wanted to say, what broke your heart, and let such bitterness spill out?”

the answer to his question: elias.

elias broke alastair’s heart and left him to respond to everything with defense mechanisms.

alastair is such a complex character and he’s also one of my absolute favorites because of that. his relationship with his father is so realistic, and him distancing himself from everyone else because of his father is also so realistic. i just love this character with my whole heart ok

this is so long but istg i could write a whole essay about this man and ykw? maybe i will.

#putting my english degree to good use once again #when people ask me in the future ‘so what do u do with your english degree?’ #i will simply say ‘i write long ass tumblr posts about my fav characters’ #alastair carstairs #cordelia carstairs #elias carstairs #thomas lightwood #thomastair #the last hours #tlh #shadowhunters #chain of gold #chain of iron #chain of thorns

[tikitania]

Nutcracker Season!

Nutcracker season can elicit an array of feelings. Some love it, some hate it. I was falling into the indifferent category. I don't live in a major city, so the month long onslaught of ballet school-civic rep level productions has me a bit bummed out…and ready to tune it all out. AND THEN…I stumbled upon this very interesting panel discussion lead by ballet critic, Alastair McCauley, comparing the original Lev Ivanov Sugarplum PDD to the Balanchine version, getting into the nitty gritty of the score and the choreographic language that can be found in both versions, pointing out the various ways in which Balanchine quoted Ivanov. This is so interesting and only available online until Dec. 17, so hurry and watch it while you can. Who knew about the original version of the Sugar Plum sliding across the stage on point on a hidden stage tracking device?! If you do anything, watch this first video with the panel talk and demonstrations. The videos I included after that are just if you want to get obsessive like I did to dig deeper. Panelists: Suki Schorer, Wendy Whelan, Sara Mearns, Jonathan Stafford. (Watching Suki coach is worth watching!) NYCB Dancers: Chun Wai Chan, Ashley Hod (Balanchine version) & Anthony Huxley, Emma Von Enck (Ivanov Version)

MacCauley mentions the Fonteyn version a few times during this talk, so I found it for you. The tempo is certainly much faster, and it really makes you appreciate Fonteyn's speed! But I actually prefer the slower tempo, which allows the music to really soar. But I also wondered if it was the audio quality of this historic recording is simply too compressed and tinny to do it justice.

The Mariinsky dances the Vasily Vaionen version of the Nutcracker, and I wanted to see how it compared to the Ivanov version. I really love the Mariinsky version. It's a departure from Ivanov, but still very classical and regal. PPD below with Baby Shakirova.

BONUS: If you want to watch the full Mariinsky Nutcracker, here's a 1994 recording with Larissa Lezhnina and Victor Baranov. And for some real fun going down the rabbit hole, this is an amazing Soviet black and white recording of the PDD with the late Svetlana Efremova (SHE IS AMAZING!) and Sergei Vikulov. Notice that the extra four cavaliers are not in this one, so the choreography is adjusted. I have a thing for soviet era black-and-white ballet films. Not to be overlooked, the Grigorivich version at the Bolshoi is worth mentioning. There are a few things that stood out to me. Its religiosity, for one. The PDD essentially starts with Masha and her prince praying together as if at a mass. And then, towards the end, are the huge lifts that end with an upside down ballerina (not my favorite pose…)

Interestingly, ABT's version by Ratmansky also incorporates the same big lift, but transitions into a spin. You can see it here, and it's a much smoother transition. Ignore the weird speed manipulation in this video. It can give you motion sickness.

AND….I found this POB version. The Nureyev choreography is horrible and Tsikaridze knows it. He can barely hold back his own laughter as how bad this performance is. When I watched this, my first thought is that Nureyev must have been a misogynist because the Sugar Plum/Clara choreography is so god awful that it seems like he's trying to humiliate ballerinas. Poor Myriam Ould-Braham, she does her best to dignify the choreography with her impeccable technique, but there is no saving this. Another thing that bothers me is that the couple are hardly dancing together, it's like a bad ballet class where they dance side to side. I hope this version soon disappears forever. Watch at your own risk. It made my blood boil.

Okay, that's it for a while. I may go see the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker if I have time. But I will mostly be focused on taking time off with the family, puttering in the garden, and catching up on my ever-expanding to-do list. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

#ballet #prima ballerina #nutcracker #deep dive #nycb #NYC Ballet #Alastair MacCauley #Bailet history #Lev Ivanov #sugar plum fairy #mariinsky ballet #Bolshoi #margot fonteyn #royal ballet #ABT #Ratmansky #grigorivich #Soviet ballet film #russian ballet #Nutcracker Season is here #rudolf nureyev #great dancer terrible choreographer #time for the hot toddies #Youtube

[faithfromanewperspective]

So I am going to be asking about a character I hate right now, but it's a character that I think about frequently because of his proximity to ALL my biggest blorbos. Charles Fairchild. What brand of neurodivergent do you think he is? I have opinions, but want to see what you have to say.

I LOVE THIS QUESTION SO MUCH!!! because I get to talk about a recent interest of mine: and that's how to be properly neurodivergent affirming for all neurodivergences, especially those that are overrepresented in criminal populations and those who are also overrepresented in those who are ostracised for being seen as 'bad people' due to having and expressing non-neuronormative needs that are a result of a combination of trauma and neurobiology. and not just being able to chalk it up to the double empathy problem, either. I will say I am not an expert in this, and if there's anyone in the community reading this who thinks I've not handled it sensitively, please let me know. I like feedback, and I also like it when people say things nicely because i'm human and fragile too.

First, hate to be your stereotypical armchair diagnoser but something about Charles absolutely screams NPD. And as much as he's not a great guy I love that we actually do get to know him, we get to know not only our usual TSC boys who are bleeding with emotion and just so loveable and hungry for connection and love, but the trope that we're told exists, we see from the outside in politicians and business (usually) men (doesn't James compare Charles to one of those men with briefcases rushing about at rush hour in chain of gold?) and who never really let us in to the fact that they're human. Through Alastair's description of Charles' motivations in chain of thorns, we do actually get to know him and what drives him: fear, masked by ambition. And at this point I want to say: I don't think he has NPD because he's a dick. He just happens to be one as well, and that happens to be one of the ways it presents. It is not the only way NPD can present. Overall, in terms of NPD awareness and hey-let's-not-call-all-these-people-with-this-diagnosis-or-who-would-get-it-if-they-ever-got-help-abusers, Charles isn't the best representation. He's not the worst either; he does get sort of a redemption arc, and though we can speculate about his relationship with Alastair (and have reason to) there is very little that is canonically confirmed about it. So, at this point (and it's taken me a lot of thinking and one (1) Charles POV oneshot to get to this point) I agree with Ari that he's an interesting guy to have as a penpal, for curiosity if for nothing else.

I also think he may (?) be autistic. I've strung this together from a very obscure bunch of observations, the first being Will and Tessa's wedding where he 'had colic and wanted everyone to know' (don't mind me botching my quotations). Not saying all autistics are fussy but you know. Differing pain feeling thresholds that come with different sensory profiles. On top of that, politics is an intense and long-lasting special interest for him. I think some of it is the power, some of it is him still trying to get his mother's attention and love by imitating her even after all of these years, but also: it's a way to exist with people that gives him a more or less scripted role. He's known for quite a few social faux pas (think his engagement announcement at james and cordelia's engagement party! that can't be completely siren power mindpuppeting), he struggles with the social-emotional reciprocity thing (especially when it comes to the being vulnerable side of things and we see Alastair suffer for that), he seems to get irritable in a way that he doesn't understand nor know how to be honest about, and when he does want to say something, he just interrupts the conversation. Overall he seems to be a shitty presentation of a shitty stereotype, many shitty stereotypes in fact (that he humanises, like I've talked about). But. Before we brush off Cassie for that, it's important to have diverse representation of any kind of neurodivergence (including what we find ugly), and I find he does actually balance out james and thomas and christopher quite well. And yes. The TLH gang, more of them are autistic than not. His parents are also Charlotte and Henry and I do know how genetics works. I'd be surprised if they had a neurotypical kid.

Speaking of my absolute faves Charlotte and Henry who we do have to admit are kind of shitty parents during the time Charlotte is Consul I can kind of see how having two flaming neurodivergent kids who they had none of the resources to know how to support, one parent is disabled and one is facing the incredible pressure of being the one to break the glass ceiling of holding an INCREDIBLY stressful job with all the scrutiny that comes with Being A Woman while also kind of unofficially being her partner's caretaker and having two kids with zero time off her fulltime plus job and also has a fair bit of her own trauma in regards to Parents--I can see how the Trauma of Many Kinds resulted in this incredibly underresourced family and we have to recognise Charles is a victim of this. Especially, as we know, how neurodivergent needs are you know--different to neurotypicals--and you've got to be super attuned as a parent to understand the unique things your kid needs. We also have to recognise that growing up with him being doubtless unpredictable did a number on Matthew, six years younger and incredibly hungry for connection.

Overall, Charles is a really well put together character in my view and the way he exists in the ecosystem of generational and lateral community trauma just is really well done. He's not a great guy. I hope he gets whatever help he needs, whatever that looks like--I am kind of optimistic for him but I also Really Think It'll Take A LONG Time and it's going to be really hard for him to make genuine connections for quite a while. I think at some point Charlotte and Henry will slowly figure things out. And grieve. A lot.

#charles fairchild #neurodivergence #neurodivergent affirming #and i mean really neurodivergent affirming #the last hours #genuinely please let me know how i've gone with this

[belle-keys]

I read your opinions about swordcatcher and I was curious about what you consider to be the light borrowing of tlh.

I see bits and pieces of both Grace and Cordelia on Antonetta (good god how I hate this name, I know it's a real name but it doesn't sound like one, why couldn't it be antonella? Idc it rhymes with salmonella, it still sounds more legit), and lady alleyne is sona and Tatiana's love child.There is also the matter of marakand being their equivalent of Persia and Conor and Kel (allegedly) being half Persian, but if I'm being honest I see this more as Cc having the opportunity to express her love for Iran than with tlh specifically. Cordelia and Alastair were white and French originally, after all. Besides that tho none of what I like to call "elements of a cc book" present in sw are really a prerogative of tlh.

I would even argue that it was a smart move on cc's part to bring them on this new universe.As much as she may want to cement herself as name on adult high fantasy, she's not starting from scratch and it is to her advantage to endear her enormous fan base, many of whom grew up with her books and now are adults themselves, to this new world by bringing familiar elements into it.

I would also argue that she repeats them not out of a lack of creativity, this rich new worldbuilding is proof that she has that to spare, but rather bc at this point she knows her public and what appeals to them.It may be controversial, but I think Tda is her least liked series precisely bc it lacks some of those tropes and subverts others

When I said “light borrowing”, I actually was just trying to be sarcastic in my original review, but I would now rather say that Cassie very heavily borrowed from not just TLH but the other TSC books. And Kel and Conor allegedly being half-Persian is the last thing that even crossed my mind when I thought of this.

Lin is so very much Cordelia personality-wise in my opinion. Shy girl looking for a sense of empowerment and independence in a male-dominated place. Dips her toes into high society/court and recoils from it. Does a public sexy dance as a means of embracing her sexuality and femininity even though the sensual element from her personality is very much repressed in the name of female propriety in regular daily life. Red hair. Fairly oblivious. Quite sheltered from society’s depravity.

I would also argue that Kel and Conor’s relationship is just James and Matthew’s relationship but on opioids laced with fentanyl. We have the more serious, obvious, trusting main character and his hedonistic, secretive, higher ranking best friend who is absolutely keeping things from him and vice-versa. Kel is the ground to Conor’s sky and whatnot. They love each other but miscommunication and, gasp, a girl is driving a wedge between them. Kel regularly has to slap sense into an inebriated, flirtatious Conor who can’t get his priorities straight. Sounds a little familiar!

Antonetta is very much aligned with Grace’s character as well. Pretty, dainty, blonde character who knows way more than she lets on to people and with an overbearing mother who has spent her life grooming Antonetta for high society and entrapping powerful men into marriage with her. Of course the simple boy at court (Kel) is obsessed with her.

I have a few more minor examples, but all in all I think I’d take the opposite view of yours in that Cassie gives 110% to worldbuilding and story arcs and layered plot and as a result, she uses up a lot of her energy and spark and focus when it comes to fleshing out her protagonists. Don’t take this post as hate towards Sword Catcher or anything - I loved it. I gave it four stars, and I didn’t minus any stars whatsoever because of the Cassie-isms I detected. But I think she needs to diversify a little more when it comes to character development, that’s all!

#the world was so amazingly rich anyway that the character tropes didn’t really bother me #but i argue the tropes are nonetheless there #sword catcher #cassandra clare #kel saren #conor aurelian #antonetta alleyne #lin caster #the last hours #tlh #james herondale #cordelia carstairs #matthew fairchild #tsc #fantasy books #sff #book blog

[bi-disaster-kit-herondale]

The Last Hours as Midnights

it’s long overdue. been in my notes for a while

lavender haze : cordelia and james

“And you don’t really read into my melancholia. I’ve been under scrutiny. You handle it beautifully. All this shit is new to me. I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me.”

maroon : anna and ariadne

“And I wake with your memory, over me. That’s a real fuckin’ legacy, to leave. The burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine into me. And how the blush rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet it was (maroon).”

anti-hero : matthew

“I should not be left to my own devices. They come with prices and vices. I end up in crises, tale as old as time. I wake up screaming from dreaming. One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving, ‘cause you got tired of my scheming.”

snow on the beach : lucie and jesse

“I can’t speak, afraid to jinx it. I don’t even dare to wish it. But your eyes are flying saucers from another planet. Now I’m all for you like Janet. Can this be a real thing, can it?”

you’re on your own kid : alastair

“I’ll run away. From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes. I called a taxi to take me there. I searched the party of better bodies, just to learn that my dreams aren’t rare. You’re on your own, kid. You always have been.”

midnight rain : grace

“My town was a wasteland. Full of cages, full of fences, pageant queens and big pretenders. But for some, it was paradise. My boy was a montage. A slow-motion, love potion, jumping off things in the ocean. I broke his heart ‘cause he was nice.”

question…? : matthew and cordelia

“Good girl, sad boy, big city, wrong choices. We had one thing goin’ on. I swear that it was somethin’. ‘Cause I don’t remember who I was before you painted all my nights, a color I’ve searched for since.”

vigilante shit : cordelia

“You did some bad things, but I’m the worst of them. Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie. They say looks can kill, and I might try. I don’t dress for women, I don’t dress for men, lately, I’ve been dressing for revenge.”

bejeweled : anna (& ariadne)

“And we’re dancing all night. And you can try, to change my mind, but you might have to wait in line. What’s a girl gonna do? A diamond’s gotta shine. Best believe I’m still bejeweled.”

labyrinth : alastair (& thomas)

“Lost in the labyrinth of my mind. Break up, break free, break through, break down. You would break your back to make me break a smile. You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back.”

karma : lucie

“Sweet like justice, karma is a queen. Karma takes all my friends to the summit. Karma is the guy on the screen, coming straight home to me. ‘Cause karma is my boyfriend, karma is a god. Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend.”

sweet nothing : matthew and james

“I wrote a poem. You say, ‘what a mind’, this happens all the time. Ooh… ‘Cause they said the end is coming. Everyone’s up to something. I find myself running home to your sweet nothings.”

mastermind : grace

“What if I told you none of it was accidental, and the first night that you saw me nothing was gonna stop me. I laid the groundwork, and then just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line.”

characters from @cassandraclare

lyrics by @taylorswift

stay tuned for 3am edition ;)

#the last hours #shadowhunters #tsc #tlh #chain of thorns #chain of iron #chain of gold #jordelia #thomastair #ghostwriter #blackdale #grace blackthorn #matthew fairchild #james herondale #cordelia carstairs #thomas lightwood #alastair carstairs #lucie herondale #anna x ariadne #anna lightwood #arianna #ariadne bridgestock #kamala joshi #heronchild #fairstairs #cassandra clare #taylor swift #midnights #taylor swift x shadowhunters

[alastairstom]

What are your thoughts on each of the tlh ships?

In my order of preference

thomas/alastair -> 1000/10. up there with wessa as my all-time favourite ship from any media. they are definitionally soulmates and i will die on that hill. they're perfect for each other, bring out the best in each other, and help each other heal. they're both extremely solid, well-written, and dynamic characters who better each other's storylines and make each other more complex. i'm so glad they have their gentle little love. i want to slurp up their love like spaghetti. it has made me feel alive.

christopher/grace -> 9/10. good god. i love them together and their scenes in chain of thorns made me feel a lot. they both changed each other for the better, and i feel like christopher could easily have been a lifeline in a cruel world for grace in a similar way that thomas is to alastair. in fact, i'd have adored this parallel. i wish they hadn't been doomed. in my mind they're living together in a nice little country cottage. they have the 1900s equivelant of a qpr and love blowing shit up and doing science. i choose denial!

james/cordelia -> 8/10. i'm not overly invested in the relationship because i view it as somewhat static in the way that it's written. but i do like both of the characters and think they're both good people. their story is cute and i always like childhood friends to lovers. there truly is no one else for either of them and i'm glad they have that. i think that they both really deserved their soft happy ending and i am glad they got what they deserved.

anna/ari -> 4/10. look. listen. i am sorry. i don't really like anna because she is to me just the lesbian equivalent of a fuckboy. i don't hate her but i think she had so much potential to be an awesome character but turned out to be kind of a not-so-great person. i'd have liked her more if she grew over the course of the story, but no, she 'likes everything she has and approves of everything she's done.' ari/anna obviously isn't abusive or bad or anything but i think ari could do better. still, it's fine. meh.

lucie/jesse -> 2/10, and i definitely am being hard on them because of how much they disappointed me in chot. i think my main issue is that i grew disenchanted with both characters. lucie behaved really annoyingly at cordelia (despite my criticisms of her character, i feel protective toward cordelia and truly do like her). jesse is probably my least favourite after chot, sadly, because he just was so atrocious to grace for no reason at all. so, no, i don't like them, and i don't care about their relationship. it's sad because they'd have been my 2nd fave ship in tlh before chot, but they made each other worse and the characters and relationship degenerated into being not only boring to read about but also just irritating since i could not cheer for them.

#asks #chot #chain of thorns #thomastair #gracetopher #i dont wanna tag the others lol

[zoyalannister]

It's not really fair to say Thomas forgives Alastair over Grace just because he's attracted to him. Grace stuff was way more recent and she literally sexually abused his best friend for 4 years. Way worse than Alastair.

Well, but that’s what happens canonically.

Thomas never holds Alastair accountable for anything he did, and he did pretty horrible things. He tried to kill James, he is the cause of Matt's alcoholism and spread rumors about Thomas being little and sick because his mother is a mundane.

When does Thomas ever have a conversation with Alastair about these things?

I thought that in ChoT they would finally have a serious conversation, but instead since Alastair is handsome Thomas forgets everything else.

"Grace’s stuff was way more recent" but also Matt's alcoholism is very recent, but he forgave Alastair just because CC knows that Thomastair is the most popular ship and doesn’t want fans to be upset about Matt flipping out on him.

"She literally sexually abused his best friend for 4 years". I have many doubts on """best friend""" because The Merry Thieves aren’t really that close as the fandom pictures them, but Thomas misses the context. Grace is the abuser and also the victim, the two don’t mutually exclude each other, and Thomas insisting on ignoring the fact that she was like 12 (younger than Alastair when he attempted to murder James) she was forced to put the bracelet on him and the one or two times when she took it off she was threatened to death is just hypocrisy since he never held Alastair accountable for anything he did (I would like to remind everyone that no one ever threathened Alastair to bully Thomas, to try to kill James because his power made him and his friends freak out or to spread rumors about Matt's paternity).

In my opinion, only Matt, James, Cordelia and Charles have the right to hate Grace and never forgive her for what she did, since they’re the ones directly involved by her actions.

Thomas is an external whose boyfriend did pretty horrible stuff, among which is the reason why one of his allegedly """best friends""" wasted his life for the last two or three years (alcoholism or addictions in general are terrible, not the embarrassing and superficial thing Cassandra portrayed in TLH), but for some reason he believes he can judge all the horrible actions Grace committed while never holding his boyfriend accountable for his.

Grace didn’t do "way worse" things than Alasrair, since the consequences of his actions on Matt are on an almost similar level, it's just that all the characters downplay his actions only because he is the second half of the most popular ship and CC needs to sell books, so she doesn’t want to upset the fans of this ship.

James says that he hates the fact that for 4 years his life was wated and he rightfully hates Grace for it, but Matt is in a similar situation because alcohol (or addiction in general) make you waste your life and he forgive Alastair because "he was like a general tired of an old war" or whatever embarrassing metaphor CC used because she doesn’t want to make either Thomastair fans or Matt's stans cry if the two have a conflict. Also in this scene Matt is drunk, as I repeat, he's been constantly for the last 2/3 years or so because of Alastair, and for some reason Thomas thinks this is the proper moment to tell him "hey I'm gay and attracted to the man who is the reason why you have an alcohol addiction". If this scene had been halfway realistic, Matt would have at least broken some forniture because alcoholic are unpredictable when drunk, but in TLH alcoholism is written so superficially that it doesn’t look nearly as terrible as it should, and I think that’s why Thomas (and the fandom) forgave Alastair so easily.

Thomas failing to see the similarities between the two situations and never even mentioning it to Alastair because he's too busy thinking about how Alastair is hot and how much he wants to kiss/bang him is what makes me say that he never holds him accountable because he's attracted by him.

P.S. I like(d) Alastair because of his redemption arc, but it was totally thrown in the bin in Chain of Thorns when he was reduced just to Thomas's love interest.

[spacehero-23]

May be unpopular ..but anytime someone is sad about Grace and Kit not happening on the timeline ..I can’t help but feel vindicated? Especially since the fandom downplayed what happened to him and thought it was okay to ship James’ ex gf and abuser with his first cousin, so because of having to see that all these years I’m glad she ended up the way she did at the end of Chain of Thorns, Im sad for Kit but not sad that they didn’t end up romantic. It feels like Cassie respected his trauma, even if I didn’t like Kit standing up for her and meeting her in secret in the first place. That was something that would’ve felt more comfortable to read if it were Jesse defending her there, not Kit. With Kit his focus on Grace almost felt disloyal, I was surprised with James’ temperament and fragile emotions that he didn’t snap at Kit over his doting over Grace..It was an ooc moment for James not to react but CC just didn’t want Kit to be called out only by Anna and Tom for some reason

oh I don’t think it’s an unpopular opinion, maybe it depends on who you follow but I saw a lot of people here and on twitter (myself included) criticize the Kit scene and how clear it was that he did not care about James's trauma. 

I’m re-reading the book right now, and every scene with Kit and James/The Merry Thieves is kind of spoiled for me, because I know that he chose this girl he knew for a month? over one of his closest friends. 

I think James didn’t say anything because he was just so exhausted from telling the story and he didn't want to fight with Kit right away. And I feel like Kit’s death robbed us of an actual confrontation (but I think she did that, because she knew most people would hate Kit for siding and fighting on the behalf of the abuser). 

I also saw people say that since Thomas forgave Alastair and wanted everyone else to forgive him, he should understand Kit. Which is???? nope. Those are apples and oranges, my guy. One was a stupid kid who didn’t know how much damage he was doing and the other knew exactly what she was doing and kept doing it (while having mood swings about how she felt about it, but that was more on Cassie and how she decided to write Grace). 

I’m really glad Cassie spent so much time highlighting how much damage Grace and the bracelet had done, because yeah, like you said, a lot of people in this fandom didn’t see what happened to James as something horrific or were a little too quick to forget because Kit and grace had a cute scene together.

anyway, everytime I “hate on”/criticize Grace I get a ton of dm/asks saying that I don’t understand her character, but I do. I really do. It's just like Cassie said, Grace is the embodiment of explanation not an excuse. And since she knew damn well what she was doing and kept doing it to other people, I cannot bring myself to like her or even feel bad for her. 

So this is a PSA to everyone who wants to say I blame the victim or something. everytime you say that I’m gonna respond with this image:

#chain of thorns spoilers #chot spoilers #tlh spoilers #asks #cassadra clare #the last hours #chain of thorns #christopher lightwood #james herondale #tsc #the shadowhunter chronincles #shadowhunters #chain of iron #chain of gold #gracelet

[betterthansnow]

chain of thorns opinion:

I’m not going to lie, I had low hopes from this book because I was disappointed with chain of iron. And I’m glad for it because what the actual fuck lol. I hated all the self-pitying in this book. It made me want to pull my hair out of frustration. James and Cordelia aren’t even a couple I care about and it took SO LONG for them to communicate properly. Like how’d y’all end up falling in love when ur communication is awful with each other.

I thought there’d be more Jesse and Grace sibling moments, but Jesse really said fuck it when she revealed the shitty things she’s done. Even though, she was a child who was coerced into doing them. Thank u Christopher for setting the group straight. Like y’all don’t have to forgive her because it was very very awful what she did to James, but she was a child with an abusive, authoritative figure who kept her isolated. Although her trying to seduce James again in chain of iron🤦🏻‍♀️ .

The plot also felt rushed. I feel like the timeline of the story could’ve been longer. Everything got quickly fixed in like five paragraphs with the enclave, the necromancy, the belial relation, and the blackmailing inquisitor.

Christopher’s death. It felt incredibly overshadowed. And it was obvious that his death’s only purpose was to say one of the ‘mains’ died. I felt like if Cassandra Clare wanted someone to die, it should’ve been Matthew in the other realm with belial. Like after James and Matthew finally start truly connecting again. Like IMAGINE the gut wrenching pain that would’ve came from that. Don’t get me wrong, Christopher’s death made me sad, but it was just so unneeded. I also hated that it was Cordelia that ended Tatiana. It should’ve been Jesse, James, Anna, or grace. ALSO why was Cordelia always in a fight when she couldn’t really be useful in one without summoning Lilith. She lowkey got Christopher killed (I said what I said).

Loved Thomas and Alastair. Idk how Alastair ever fell for Charles though.

The ‘final’ battle was dumb lol. I’m sorry. Like what’d belial think James plan was. It was so easy.

It’s weird how excited I was for this series for it to turn out like this :/.

Anyways I loved the infernal devices and the dark artifices series. I REALLY hope the new story with Ty and Kit will continue amazingly. Cant wait for more family dynamics with Tessa, jem, kit, and Mina.

#chain of thorns #grace blackthorn #christopher lightwood #jesse blackthorn #the wicked powers #thomas lightwood #alastair carstairs #matthew fairchild #james herondale #lucie herondale

[vwritesaus]

      Thomas is thankfully spared from being forced to watch as Lucie steps in between her brother and Matthew and gently cups Thomas’s face in her hands. Her eyes are swimming with tears, rimmed in the same shade of red as the runes on their clothes.       ‘Focus, Thomas,’ she whispers. ‘You don’t have to look. Alright? Focus on me, if it helps.’       Barely anyone thinks about or even considers the bond Thomas and Lucie have, not when Lucie has James for a brother and Cordelia as her future parabatai, and when Thomas and Christopher were joined at the hip. Not quite cousins, many assume they’re amicable with each other at most, or family only by association or because their parents are related to one another in this-and-that way.       They can’t be further from the truth. Lucie and Thomas are so much more than that. Lucie is the younger sister Thomas never had, the outspoken, mischievous and confident counterpart to his reserved, sensible and bashful self. Thomas is the one who keeps Lucie’s chaotic ideas in check—where James, Matthew and Uncle Will would only indulge her—and Lucie the one who helps bring Thomas out of his shell at parties and social gatherings, where he would have otherwise stayed in the most convenient corner.       He knows her, and she him, and he’s grateful for her in this moment as he lets go of Alastair’s and Anna’s hands, wraps his fingers around Lucie’s slender wrists, and looks directly into eyes the colour of a clear summer sky.       ‘It’s not fair,’ he states under his breath, his voice so soft only Lucie should be able to hear it. ‘Luce, how is this fair? Why him? Why Kit?’       Lucie’s expression crumbles, and a sob of her own wracks her tiny frame.

Snippet #1

~

lucie and thomas: the one friendship i really wanted to see fleshed out more in tlh, but alas did not get to </3 you cannot tell me these two aren't super close... they compliment each other so well!!

on another note, i hate making my faves cry. but on the other hand, i enjoy making them cry. truly a double-edged sword lol. again, needs must :')

also i know i said i'd post the full chapter on the weekend, but i got stuck with that last scene and only just finished it the other night :'D but this weekend for sure!! saturday/sunday night AEST, it's coming your way, friends ✨ until then, i'll probably post another snippet in the next day or two. stay tuned!!

~

tag list: @drunkonimagination @astriefer @ferrari-go-vroom-vroom @ibrushmyteeth-donttellanyone @claritywithclary @what-ho-christopher-put-in let me know if you’d like to be added to or removed from the tag list!!

#the shadowhunter chronicles #tsc #the last hours #tlh #chain of thorns #chot #cot #chain of thorns spoilers #chot spoilers #cot spoilers #thomas lightwood #james herondale #matthew fairchild #lucie herondale #christopher lightwood #cordelia carstairs #alastair carstairs #anna lightwood #the last hours fanfiction #tlh fanfiction #the last hours fanfic #tlh fanfic #fanfiction preview #fanfiction #fanfic #grief/mourning #hurt/comfort #dear christopher #if you think this part is bad... boy do i have news for you #it's only gonna get worse from here

[elithegnome]

Walk in The Park

FrUk fic

CW: None really, unless you count Arthur’s brothers being nosy little shits

Also name guide for the UK bros

Alastair: Scotland

Liam: Ireland (I headcanon as their half brother)

Conner: N. Ireland

Gwilym: Wales

—————————————————————————

“Where is he?” Was the only question running through Arthur’s mind. Francis usually arrived late, but that never stopped the Brit from questioning his lover. Pressing a hand to his forehead, the disheveled figure slumped in his seat.

“Oi what’s wrong brother?” A thick Scottish accent interrogated, “Another migraine?”

Arthur leaned back in his chair again, “No  Alastair, it’s not that.” He sighed, tousling his locks, “Just waiting for a friend.”

Someone else snickered softly, followed by footsteps against the creaky oak floor. A freckled hand planted itself on Arthur’s shoulder. 

“I don’t think it’s a friend,” Liam declared, his dimples showing with his cheeky smile, “Lads, I think our own Arthur has finally gotten some bitches!”

“Liam!” Arthur shouted, a deep blush appearing on his face. By some sort of misfortune, the doorbell rang right then. 

Arthur shot to his feet, sprinting over to the door. Just before any of his brothers could find out who this mystery person was, Arthur slammed the dark wooden mass. 

“Aggressive now are we?” The Frenchman laughed, placing a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek. 

Grunting like some sort of aggravated dog, Arthur gripped Francis’ hand and dragged him down the road.

————————————————————

“So your brothers are the problem?” Francis questioned, watching Arthur throw rocks into the pond.

“Yes!” Arthur admitted, “Not so much Conner and Gwilym— but it’s mainly Alastair and Liam.” 

The other nodded, running a hand through the dry fall grass, “Mhm. Tell me how.”

“Well-“ the Brit grunted, flopping down onto the earth with Francis, “Alastair scares away everyone I date. And Liam’s just such a nosy roach!”

“Because they care.”

“What?” 

“They care, Arthur.” Francis continued, “If they didn’t care, they would let you go around banging everyone in the world. What I think you should do, is let me meet your family instead of being such a big baby.”

Arthur’s face flushed a bright red once again, “I’m not a big baby!”

“Well you sure act like one.” Francis teased, stroking his boyfriend’s cheek. 

He groaned, rolling closer to Francis, paying no mind to the grass stains forming on his white shirt.

“You’re alright Francis, you know that?”

“Oui, I’m the best.”

“Shut it you ninny.” Arthur scoffed, slowly pulling Francis into a slow kiss.

Meanwhile, four brothers with binoculars watched the couple behind a bush. Particularly, the oldest one becoming slightly hot-headed.

“Allaistar they’re adults, let them be. Also it’s just Francis, aren’t you two friends or something?” Conner begged, trying to not let his brother fly off the handle. 

“Aye, but he hates the bloke! Since when did that end?!” 

Liam and Gwilym clapped their hands around the Scotsman’s mouth, who was still rambling endlessly. The quartet gave up eventually, opting to go home and try their best to calm the raging brunette.

Arthur and Francis on the other hand, had a lovely stroll through St James Park. Their hands entwined the whole time, leaves crunching beneath their feet all the way. 

#hetalia #hws #aph england #hws england #aph france #hws france #francis bonnefoy #arthur kirkland #aph scotland #hws scotland #aph ireland #hws ireland #aph northern ireland #hws northern ireland #aph wales #hws wales #fruk #uk bros

[rinadragomir]

Okay Rina, here we go (because you’re amazing, you deserve a distraction, and I like to rant) 💖

- Charles x Alastair: I have, in fact, unfortunately seen people who ship them and I’m still sick. Genuinely wish for anyone (though Alastair is def more satisfying) to put him in his place.

- Thomas x Alastair: My everything. My OTP in the whole TSC fandom. I generally like reading fanon content, but sometimes it feels like Thomas isn’t understood by the fandom at all? Y’all forgive Alastair (and super rightly), but show absolutely no empathy towards Thomas. And honestly, I agree with the complaints about his behaviour in CoI, but I don’t get why people can’t read the context. Which doesn’t actually mean justifying, just understanding the situation.

- Eugenia x Ariadne/Kamala: Flawless. Too good to be canon. Doesn’t mean I’m not bitter about it, though.

- Anna x Ariadne/Kamala: Just don’t. Listen, I loved them in Every Exquisite Thing, and I was so happy about a wlw couple being “more central” to the story. BUT, let’s be honest, they were completely ruined after that. They were still okay in CoG, though I didn’t like how some things were handled, but lines were crossed in CoI. There was too much humiliation, too little understanding and too little sympathy towards Ariadne, her life and situation. On top of that, Anna showed that she doesn’t know her at all. I’m pretty sure they’re going to be endgame (if they’re fine by the end of CoT that is), but I don’t like it.

- Jesse x Lucie: Nice, but way too overrated by the fandom. Idk, I read TLH with great expectations for them (pun not intended lol), but I felt like most of their scenes were just okay. I’m not sure why, but they could never make me feel the pathos I was expecting because of their situation.

- James x Cordelia: Boring, but I do hope they’re okay in the end, because Cordelia deserves it. I’m gonna be honest (sorry in advance Rina because I know you love him), but I don’t like James. He deserves happiness after everything he went through, though, and I hope he gets it.

- James x Grace: Doesn’t deserve to actually be called a ship, and I despise it. However, it’s really worth a mention that I was very intrigued by the original idea of them (though I’ve always wanted Grace and Kit to be endgame), and I was really curious to see how that was going to go. For me, Grace wasn’t in love with him even then, but it’s evident James was, and honestly I was always curious to see how he ended up with Cordelia.

- Matthew x Cordelia: A big, gigantic no, but their friendship is great. Probably one, if not the, best developed, and I hate that Cassie’s gonna make it weird.

- Matthew x Kellington: They had so much potential, but I hate it because I’m pretty sure there’s a gross age gape. If their dynamic had been with someone who wasn’t toxic for Matthew and had the right age, I would’ve loved it.

- Grace x Christopher: Loved it since 2014, my TLH OTP then, and my second since Thomastair’s been revealed. I wish the timeline of the books would allow us to see more, but for how everything stands it wouldn’t be right for Cassie to give anything more than hints about them being together in the future. I don’t necessarily disagree with them being on the spectrum (though I also doesn’t see particular clues in that direction), but I don’t think they’d be at one end of it. I believe there have been clues showing they can be interested in romance at the very least, and that’s why I could potentially see them being demi or grayromantic. However, my knowledge about this topic isn’t as extensive as I’d like, so there could be better suggestions.

Couples aside, I also want to mention that Thomas and Christopher and Jesse and Grace are the best platonic relationships, and I wish there were more scenes about them. They deserved to be Parabatai. I’ll also take the opportunity to say that neither Matthew and James nor Lucie and Cordelia make good Parabatai pairings. The problem isn’t keeping secrets because that can make sense depending on the circumstances, but they almost never rely on each other or lean on the other when they need help. I also wouldn’t mind the Thieves going their own ways (except Kit and Tom). It’s just… if they make it work, then good for them and I’ll be happy, but atm they’re not really good for each other. Matthew and James have their own things going on, and beyond that there’s not really that strong of a bond (or desire to really get to know the others and what’s going on with them). It just feels like the four of them love each other, but the bonds that tie them have mostly grown out of their families’ closeness and very little else.

*afraid*

1) noooooooo you were hallucinating! No way it's a thing NO WAY!

2)Thomas is not understood even by his best friends like?... He's the most chaotic and emotional boy in their group. Like seriously, I usually don't read fanfiction (unfortunately) cause every time I start sth I'm always: "nO wAy tHeY wOuLd sAy/do tHat, literally no way". ANYWAY, Thomastair is a gem of our community 💅🏻✨

3)pfffff YesYES I remember the time people used to ship them REALLY HARD. I wonder who came up with this idea, it's so interesting 👀

4)JUST YES🥺listen🥺👉🏻👈🏻WHAT IF! IN! CHAIN OF THORNS! EVERYTHING! IS GONNA! BE! FIXED!🥺yes I absolutely have 99 reasons to hate Anna, cause she's 1) annoying 2) ignorant 3)thinks she's better than everyone BUT

as I said here she's just a fucking stupid teenager whose parents never said "you're cringe, never do this shit again". Like idk why all adults around her see her behavior as normal or "cool". Someone just has to let her understand that you can't be that "I don't listen to parents, I party all night, drink vodka with weird adults and break hearts for a dare like that boy from After" 16yo kid forever.

Like the life she lives doesn't make her happy just as it doesn't make people who she loves happy. She just needs to gain some braincells before CHOT🥺

5)...

6)

POV: James and Lucie are you fav characters and you've just read this ask

7) It's not a ship at all but I've written something about them here (if I'm not mistaken👀)

8) right right 😊 chemistry - yes, healthy relationship - not yet. As I said before, they were healthy for each other before the chain of iron, they definitely have chemistry, but now they're a bad influence for each other.

Matthew definitely needs some time WITHOUT her, to get over his feelings. Cause it's not a love, it's an illusion of healing, of something good in his life. She doesn't even love him back, so it's only gonna make it worse for him

Every time Cordelia interacts with Matthew in COI she uses him for running away from her problems and to focusing on someone else's issues. She has to face her own battles and Matthew, trying to help, only leads her further away from the right path.

9)I have nothing to say here, cause we hardly saw any interactions. Gotta wait for chot 😌

10) I'm so torn rn. I agree with 70% of this and and strongly disagree with everything else. I'm not gonna say anything except I need to read chain of thorns to complete my opinion on this. Cause these are really complicated topics🤔

OH MY GOD I ANSWERED EVERYTHING I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF LOOK AT ME BEING SO GOOD AT TEXTING IN ENGLISH FOR SO LONG ✨💘💓✨✨💘💓✨

#asks✨ #the last hours #chain of thorns #chain of iron #cordelia carstairs #james herondale #matthew fairchild #lucie herondale #thomas lightwood #alastair carstairs

[faithfromanewperspective]

Thomas/Tracey Lightwood: the trendsetter, protector, and more of a leader than we realise

I’ve come to the realisation that the main common thing the Merry Thieves have (aside from parents who are all friends and living in London and the same age) is that none of them are really compliant to the status quo. James is polite, but he will throw you in the river if you insult downworlders; Christopher won’t pick fights but he does have a fairly alternative pastime 90% of the time, Matthew identifies himself as a bohemian, and Thomas—well, we’ll get to him. In short, I see Thomas as the most quietly rebellious of them all, and somehow it took seeing him reimagined as a girl to see that.

This one’s actually quite a lot of Thomas, even though I will reference @thevagabondexpress’ genderbent counterpart. So, if you like Thomas or Thomastair, read on! Hopefully there’s something interesting here, and to set the mood, a simple playlist of Dorothea by Taylor Swift and Social Casualty by 5SOS. Why? Because I saw Tracey Lightwood grow into herself: someone who breaks the rules with the kind of expertise it takes to set trends and make meaningful change. We all want to be her, and she successfully manages not to be a victim of authority.

I’m going to go back to the beginning with this. In NBS, he’s the quiet one of the friend group who doesn’t like attention (James almost immediately sees their similarities, and makes sense, for he probably knew Thomas the best after the falling out of a tree incident about 4 years prior). But, despite his mother having been a mundane, he doesn’t see the little injustices and microagressions James does—at one point when James explains something he’s very annoyed about Thomas says he never thought about it that way. He also tries to get his friends to stop embarrassing him (with little success), even sometimes coming across a bit critical of Christopher’s creative ideas (which is understandable for a 14yo, but at the same time could have developed into insecurities Kit didn’t deserve). Anyway, my point is he’s still coming across as a good kid, who wants to please, and fit in. But as early as CLS, in the flashback at the start, we see him finding Alastair’s rude comments funny, and gravitating towards Alastair, who, at the time, seems the complete opposite of the sweet, kind and eager to please façade (and I would say it is genuine, not fake, it’s part of his personality, just not the whole of it) he puts on. It’s the classic stereotypical good girl/bad boy situation (but made gayer, drawn out, and overall just much healthier). What I mean by that, is the fawn-response-is-my-go-to-because-I-hate-any-kind-of-attention-as-it-always-involves-being-fussed-over people pleaser longs to be free from the box and the never-ending demands of interpersonal perfection and is thus drawn to someone who breaks their own rules, and who, learning from, they could figure out how to be themselves (except it’s not thought through that fully, like ever, it’s more like brain sees freedom potential + hot person I can maybe connect to; sounds fun, sexy, exciting, and like we will be less burdened by this burden we’re trying not to break it to ourselves we’re carrying).

Reigning myself in from discussing a certain band’s playing in to that exact thought process, Thomas might remind me of Calum but we’re discussing books.

Anyway, maintaining this half-true façade, like any kind of masking (and Thomas most definitely is masking, out of fear of social disapproval and attention), eventually gets exhausting, and usually leads to it breaking at some point and some rebellion coming through. For some, being away from strict parents for the first time means a time for trying new, more out-there things (that we would usually associate with teenagers, but some of us, yes me included, were for whatever reason scared or not confident to rebel). For some, our parents aren’t even that strict or anything, but the simple fact that we’re known as being one way by those around us means we kind of just stick to the role they give us, and we don’t have a clean slate to discover who we are behind all the masking and assumptions until we move somewhere we don’t know anyone. Thomas is the latter: when he moves to Spain, he gets a new weapon, the Bolas, he gets a tattoo, he goes to parties where he doesn’t know anyone even though it’s scary, and he more generally explores simply existing rather than being the ‘kind one’ of his friend group, or being Sophie and Gideon’s tiny, sickly youngest child. In some ways, his growth spurt is representative of a greater personal growth. Love that for him. And I think Chain of Gold is a bit of a weird mix of supportive friends ‘comrades with a gentle giant! Yay! Lets see tattoo hehe’ and viewing him in a box: ‘the kind one’ ‘our True Thomas?’ (in reference to his recommendation of not admitting to burning the house down).

But at least he’s portrayed as having a mind of his own (he got a tattoo, he chose not to go with his family but stay to help out in London, he was the first to befriend Alastair in London til Matthew dropped the bomb on him quite rudely). And this is where we get to the gender lens. For a man, this is somewhat bare minimum, expected. For a woman, it’s a statement (cue, Tessa Gray, ‘a woman with tattoos?’). And this is Tracey. She’s got a mind of her own: she got a tattoo, she has her ears pierced in a time it was uncommon (how rebellious, am I right?). She is a protector, of her friends especially but she’s also restless to be a hero, and doesn’t care about the risk. She helps Alice with her case, which we probably associate more with kindness than the kind of protectiveness that’s normalised in men but seems almost like, quoting Anna Lightwood, ‘stealing fire from the gods’ in a woman. But it's all part of the same picture. That, with her height and build, make her not exactly unfeminine but the kind of empowered that most women of her era never get to be, but in their hearts really want to. It makes sense why when she gets a bob out of necessity (10 years ahead of mundane fashion too) the practical and metamorphosing Christa and the fashionista Michelle follow her. And, unlike with Thomas, when she accepts Alice, her friends do pretty much follow her lead without fuss.

She’s still Thomas in so many ways: she’s not trying to get attention. It’s not her fault everyone would want to be her. Just like it’s not Thomas’ fault he grew up tall and muscular and handsome when he would much rather take up much less space, both literally and socially. Tracey surely is insecure about her size as well—and for both of them it’s something other people admire, and certainly don’t discriminate against them for—but the reaction does look slightly different. For Tracey, it’s more noticed, even unconsciously, but for Thomas, it’s more a passing observation. Though that could be something to do with the ratio of Alice POV to Alastair POV. Still, Tracey does come off a little more respected. Less restricted by her friends, maybe, or less affected by it if she is. Maybe because like how Thomas is emotional support person of the Merry Thieves (and that’s generally seen as a more feminine role) Tracey also usurps gender roles by being the protector. A bit less emotionally intertwined with their offenses, able to agree with Alice’s assessment of Judith as Claude’s ‘amnesiac trainwreck of a wife’ while she’s missing (I think Thomas would be fuming at that and very worried about James in that situation).

Backtracking a little—throughout the series, Thomas’ need to not be constricted comes out, most notably in his lone patrols. For Tracey, it’s much the same, but it also shows when she befriends Alice and actually defends her in front of her friends. She seems more confident. Maybe that’s why she’s such a trendsetter and you can’t help but want to be her a little. Maybe that’s why she can attempt to do her vigilante patrols without being placed under lock and key as a woman would usually be. I’ll think of her, and her confidence, when I go for that overdue haircut and my next piercing which will hopefully be creative in a good way and not simply strange (but who cares if it is, right?). And yet, somehow in the construction of this amazing character, she does lose some of that relatableness and adorable awkwardness that makes Thomas Thomas—and, to your credit, we mostly don’t see until Chain of Thorns (after we know him for everything else I’ve mentioned, he really is a beautifully real and complex character). Because it’s not like Thomas isn’t confident—he’s just got a bit of a dependent relationship with his friends, and most people he knows in general—considering his childhood, who is surprised? He is actually secure in his sexuality and confident to come out as gay—I think the only reason he doesn’t earlier is because he knows he likes Alastair and that Matthew will flip and he doesn’t want what he views as an irrational crush on someone he has beef against to cause conflict. Part of the way he’s protective of his friends is that he’s scared of making them feel hurt even briefly. I think Alastair helps him outgrow that. Because he does have a lot of Tracey Lightwood in him. Alastair knows he’s proud and good and has the heart of a hero. Yes he gets love for being awkward and a simp but Thomas is so much more than that, and there’s still more growing he has to do to grow into himself, even after Madrid and Paris where he first tasted freedom, and fully realise who he is—and who I needed Tracey Lightwood to be written to properly see.

Who Alastair saw all along, and I hope that as James and Matthew move past everything they've gone through pre- and during tlh that kept them both not exactly present, will also get to know and celebrate.

#thomas lightwood #genderbent tlh #genderbent tsc

[heronchildlove]

Soulmate AU? With words maybe?? Or shared dreams?? Writers choice. :-)

I keep joking I only get angst prompts, but this one was definitely not meant to be angsty, and I went and made it angsty anyway, I’m sorry nonnie. (It’s me, I’m the problem) Also, the concept I came up with for this was way too expansive to fit in a drabble, so take this more like a prologue, and I promise I’ll revisit this concept another day, possibly after I finish the current long fic project I’m working on.

Hope you like it anyway, nonnie!

~~//~~

James knew the moment it happened.

No one knew exactly how it happened, but you weren't born with a soulmate. The universe would assign you one when you were ready, whatever that meant. Someone that would challenge you, make you grow, be your best friend and partner for life.

James wanted one badly, so he was constantly writing on his hand. When the universe deemed you ready, you and your soulmate would be connected, and you'd be able to start communicating through writing on your skin. Whatever you wrote on yourself, would disappear and appear on the other person on the same spot, and vice versa.

He had spent the last couple of years since he had become a teenager writing greetings on the back of his hand and watching with growing disappointment as the words stubbornly stuck around until he cleaned them with water. So when he had sat down for his first lesson at the Academy, picking up the pen and writing the word on himself had been more habit than anything else.

When the words actually disappeared, he was so startled he almost fell off his chair.

Luckily, only a few people noticed and snickered. After his disastrous first day, and being late to class that morning, he hardly needed to give others any more reason to laugh at him.

But that was mostly unimportant at the moment. He turned his hand around a few times, trying to see if the words hadn't just somehow slid off to the other side, but no, they really weren't there anymore! He really had a soulmate!

His heart racing madly, he looked around, trying to see if anyone in his class showed any reactions, but everyone was engrossed in their notes. He gave a sigh of relief. He didn’t know how he would feel about his soulmate being among his Academy classmates when they all so clearly detested him. He would hate to have someone feel forced to be nice to him just because they had found out they were soulmates, after all, that was never what he wanted.

A crazy thought ensnared him. No, it couldn’t be, could it? He picked up his pen again and wrote on the back of his hand:

Grace?

…

No

His breath caught again and his heart beat madly. So maybe it wasn’t Grace, but his soulmate was real, they existed. He picked up his pen again and wrote in a different place in his hand.

I’m James. And you?

There was no answer. He never got an answer, even if he kept asking other questions throughout the class. In the end, he just gave up and put his head in his arms, pretending to be sleeping in class to hide the fact he was crying.

He knew it. Who would ever want to be his soulmate anyway?

---

Matthew knew the moment it happened, and, in the end, that was the problem.

He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off James Herondale ever since their parents had first introduced them, all those years ago. It was hard, as James detested attention and tended to disappear during the enclave’s parties and all family functions, while Matthew was loathe to leave the centre of attention. Every time he managed to find a break and set out to locate James, the other had already disappeared.

He had been so happy to bump into him at the Academy’s gardens, and to find out he was also a fan of Oscar Wilde. It was finally his chance to befriend James, but then stupid Alastair Carstairs had gotten in the way… No, even before that, it seemed like him and James were somehow not seeing eye to eye, and in the end James had gotten completely mad at him. So mad he had run away from their room before Matthew even had a chance to set things right and had been ignoring him ever since.

It was completely disheartening. It was the first time he had ever fumbled so badly on a first meeting that he had driven the person away from him instead of drawing them closer; and, of course, it had to be exactly with the person he had been wanting to befriend for years now. He was completely at a loss of what to do.

If he hadn’t been studying James with such intensity, trying to figure out how to approach him that day to apologise, he would have missed it, and he might have made a completely different decision. But the way it was, he could see clearly from the row just behind him as James wrote a greeting on his hand, and as the words disappeared from James’ skin and reappeared on his own.

Matthew’s world stopped for a moment and then started turning again in stark clarity, the pieces of a puzzle falling into place. So that was the reason he had always felt so drawn to James, even with barely knowing aside from his parents’ stories. Because they were soulmates. They were – and always had been – meant to be together.

A smile started appearing on his face, and he looked back at James expectantly, waiting to see if he would notice him too and that’s when he saw it:

James taking a look around the classroom, and then promptly sighing in relief when it seemed like none of his classmates were the ones that shared his bond.

It made Matthew’s world crack under his feet and he was reminded, suddenly and starkingly, that James absolutely hated him.

He couldn’t do this, he couldn’t come out as James’ soulmate and watch him stare at him with disappointment and disgust. Watch him go against his own real feelings to try to treat him well just out of duty due to them being soulmates, that wasn’t how he wanted to do this. That was never what he wanted.

And then, the final nail in the coffin, the next word his soulmate wrote for him was a name, and not his own:

Grace?

He didn’t know who Grace was, but did it even matter? James was clearly hoping his soulmate was her, he was clearly already in love with someone else. What kind of monster would he have to be to announce himself and demand feelings from someone that didn’t reciprocate them and wouldn’t want to reciprocate them either way?

The kind he would never want to be.

Still, it felt even more cruel to give James false hope. So he scribbled back a quick “no”, making sure no one saw him – the first and last word he would ever write to his soulmate. It was somehow rather fitting.

He put his gloves back on so no one could see the words on his skin until he had a chance to go and wash them, feeling sick the more he watched James write on himself over and over again and wait for an answer that would never come.

It was for the best. People could be – and were – happy with people that weren’t their soulmates all the time. James would finish the Academy and go back to this Grace girl and be happily ever after and forget this day had ever happened, and Matthew… he would find a way, as well. He would go quietly into darkness to not even risk ruining James’ happiness in any way.

After all, what was he even expecting? Who would even want to be his soulmate anyway?

#heronchild #james herondale #matthew fairchild #tlh #the last hours #nothing but shadows #nbs #tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #soulmate au #fanfiction #nandawrites #original #mine #angst

[pastelwitchling]

Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Just finished my reread of this in preparation for Chain of Thorns, and yep, ranking's still the same. I have so many complicated feelings about CC's works, and this was no different. So, without further ado, let's get into it.

Things I loved:

- Cordelia, Lucie, Alastair, Effie, Magnus Bane (obviously), and the Merry Thieves.

- Will. By the gods, did he bring such light to this book.

- I love how much I ended up really admiring Grace this time around. I hated her in the first book, and was caught up in hating her that I felt little to nothing for her and her struggles in the second book, especially considering after everything she'd done to James and Cordelia. But I really found myself not only empathizing with her this time around, but also appreciating the person she had to become, and I actually really wish we had a whole book with her Christopher properly getting to spend time together.

- Matthew. Just. Matthew. Love him so much.

- The romantic intimate scenes were written so painfully well. I just love Cordelia and James together.

- About half the jokes, particularly at the end. More on that below.

- Most of the battle scene with Lilith and Belial at the end, and Leviathan at the Institute courtyard. I'll get into that as well.

- Ariadne Bridgestock. She deserved so much better.

Things I hated:

- All the theft, in my opinion, from Order of the Phoenix 😅 I wouldn't be so frustrated by it if anyone else was mentioning it, but nobody is. So. Yeah, James seeing the actions of a serial killer through his dreams as if he was the one doing it? Fearing he might've actually been the one doing it in the middle of the night by being possessed? Feeling this intense hatred that he couldn't explain? Getting splitting headaches afterwards that left him staggering, not being able to focus on where he was or who he was with? Deciding to spy on the actions of the killer through his dreams? Come on, Cassie.

- Oh my GODS the cluttered sentences. There has been ZERO improvement on that front since TMI. Things described in the same way a hundred times in the same sentence or passage. People shrugging "philosophically," things being described as "lightning," the amount of times we get the description of snowflakes against lantern lights and the sight of London covered in snow. The weather rarely changed, so I don't know why we had to start every chapter with descriptions about it.

- In my opinion, there are way too many descriptions of specific areas of London, and it, again, completely clutters up the paragraphs that I just found myself lost all the time. Unless you know the streets of early 1900's London very well, it's very easy for everything to get jumbled up together.

- The extremely detailed descriptions of people’s lips, or necks, or throats, or collarbones…. There were just so many, and they, again, just felt cluttered.

- Things were dramatic for no reason, just to move the plot along. In what possible universe would Will Herondale, of all people, tell James to keep something important hidden from his parabatai and wife? It makes absolute no sense for his character.

- The jokes at death sites? We can save the one-liners for another time, guys, it's okay.

- The fact that none of these siblings are ever written like real siblings. I don't feel the relationship between them at all. Again, where I appreciated Grace a bit more because her attachment is the only one that makes any kind of sense.

- Thomas being furious with Alastair and everybody treating him the way they did because of something he said back in their academy days? I get them wanting an apology, but he's clearly changed, and you guys are just being pricks, refusing to allow him (and yourselves!) to move on from his mistakes.

- Characters would talk about other characters as they knew them when they were kids like that was sufficient background information to get us to care about them. And I just didn't. I didn't care about Filomena because she "was full of life and loved art," I didn't care about Lilian Highsmith who "ruffled Thomas's hair when he was a kid." When you only show us a character for a scene or two before their death, we surprisingly don't care when they're gone. Even the attack at the Institute left no deaths! I've said this before and I'll say it again; when you don't show us how bad things could get during a battle, it doesn't leave any kind of impact. I actually forgot the attack on the Institute until this reread.

- Anna Lightwood. She was great when she was a cousin and a friend, but the way she treated Ariadne was just plain despicable. Anna is the very epitome of white woman privilege. I get her being hurt by Ariadne, but the fact that all of her friends "eye Ariadne suspiciously" when she comes near Anna, like she's some kind of monster for being AFRAID at FIFTEEN-or-something of being CAST OUT by her ADOPTED PARENTS? And never once, never for a second, does Anna ever show ANY awareness, acknowledgement, or so much as sympathy. Never considering that maybe, JUST MAYBE, she's the unfair one. And the way CC talks about Ariadne in interviews, that outside of fiction no one should give her a second chance, it just doesn't bode well for her, and I think she deserves so much better than someone who treats her as cruelly as Anna does.

- The Bible references. This is a problem I have with all of her books. First thing Jace says in TMI is that they don't follow any particular religion, and yet ALL the characters and oaths EVER QUOTE is the Bible. I hate it. If they had said Shadowhunters follow Christianity from the get-go, I would have no right to complain. But they're so specific about NOT doing that, that when ALL they mention and quote is the Bible, it just feels very excluding and... kind of manipulative, I'm sorry.

- Controversial opinion: every time Jesse said "command me to dance with you/kiss you"; WHAT A LOAD. It just sounded silly, I'm sorry. Lucie could've just had the power to control him and chosen not to, but Jesse Blackthorn telling her not to use her powers without "a ghost's permission" and the way Lucie says she "shouldn't have" accidentally commanded ghosts to save Cordelia from drowning because it possibly could've been against their permission? Context matters, people. And in this case, the very nature of Lucie's power completely goes against the "moral lesson," and just served to show that, in my opinion, there was more care put into pandering and showing how tolerant she is than just focusing on character and having Lucie be a good person who chooses not to force Jesse into obedience. Instead she does it because he scolds her. It's stupid.

- The length. Big books are my favorite kind. But only when they have actual substance to them that moves the story along. Instead we get passages upon passages upon passages of history that comes out of nowhere and leads to nothing, as if just to prove she's thought of it even if it has no place in the story, there's NO demon hunting in this demon hunting story until almost 200 pages in and the next one doesn't happen until around 250 pages later (and what's crazy is that all the fighting scenes last about two to three pages and then they're over!), AND I've forgotten everything that happens a little after Cordelia and James move in together till about the fight with Belial. I honestly forgot James had even given Cordelia that globe necklace. This book could've easily been around 300 pages, and if not for the last 150 of them, I might've bumped down the rating.

Look. I ultimately LOVE CC's books. But I can have my critiques of them, and I see their faults so very clearly. There is stuff that just doesn't work for me, including outside factors that I feel like affected the story more than they should've. My favorite series of CC's is TMI, not just because of my favorite characters, but because it was written in a time when characters were allowed to have faults and there wasn't a constant attempt to not offend anybody. I gave this four stars, and it heartily deserves it. I just don't think the faults in a book should be dismissed either.

#chain of iron #coi #cordelia carstairs #james herondale #matthew fairchild #lucie herondale #grace blackthorn #anti anna lightwood #just in case