#like a cassandra clare type of thing

[titsthedamnseason]

sometimes i am randomly haunted by the original throne of glass series covers. because like WHO is that girl and WHY is she gray

[cryastallo]

Clace Q&A with Cassandra Clare

Q: Your first thought when you learned that Clary had been kissed by a another guy (seb)”

Jace: wanted to throw up.

Q: What if you fall inlove with someone else? Will you dump Jace? Can i take him?

Clary: Not going to happen. Back off.

Q: What if I tell you that I don’t really like you, & I prefer Simon?

Jace: The world is full of people with bad taste.

Q: If Clary had not appeared in your life, what would you be now?

Jace: Lost

Q: Would you rather spend the day with Simon or Magnus? You have to choose one!

Jace: Easy - Magnus

Q: How much do you dislike Simon?

Jace: Eleven

Q: What’s the worst drawing you’ve ever made?

Clary: Um…. I used to draw people so they looked like parking meters.

Q: How many girls have you dated?

Jace: one, two, three, four — do twins count as one or two?

Q: Do you regret have kissed your brother?

Clary: Blech, yes.

Q: What are you most looking forward in your future with Jace?

Clary: Peace and quiet?

Q: Define yourself in three words.

Jace: Better than sex.

Q: Did you ever think you could be w/clary after you found out she was your “sister”?”

Jace: I suggested it, if you recall.

Q: If a girl/guy came up to you and said they loved you,how would you reply?

Jace: Line forms to the left.

Q: If you were forced to kiss either a Simon or Sebastian, who would you choose? Pick one.

Jace: The non-murderer, thanks.

Q: What type of girls do you like? Do you have a thing for redheads?

Jace: Especially the small, fiesty ones.

Q: Clary thinks that fighting for you is like sex. Is it true?

Jace: Only in the sense that I like to be good at both

Q: What’s been the most romantic thing Jace’s done?

Clary: Sent me a card every month on the day we first kissed with a different poem in it.

Q: What’s the limit to your love with Clary?

Jace: I haven’t found it yet

Q: Do you regret that you’ll never finish high school with Simon?

Clary: I miss him, but not high school.

Q: What do you think about having a baby in the future?

Jace: Like most 16 year old boys, I would prefer an unexploded bomb

Q: Do you think of Clary as the one for you, the one you’d want to marry?

Jace: Of course.

Q: Are you close to any females your age?

Clary: Just Izzy. I don’t see Maia much these days

Q: Describe Simon in three words.

Clary: My. Best. Friend.

Q: What made you fall in love with Jace?

Clary: Realizing under all that swagger he was just … like me.

Q: What do you think of those angry taxi cab drivers that roam around NYC?

Jace: I like to torment them by making them change $100 bills.

Q: How did u feel when Clary asked the angel to bring you back?

Jace: I was dead at the time.

Q: What were you thinking when Clary showed you her scar on her birthday? Why did you look away?

Jace: It looked ike my scar. But that didn’t make any sense. Also I wanted to kiss her.

Q: What was the first thing that went through your mind when you met magnus bane?

Jace: Damn, that’s sparkly.

Q: If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have 3 items what would you choose?

Jace: Cricket bat, sieve and an unending supply of cheese.

Q: Have you ever wanted another girl while with Clary?

Jace: No.

Q: Would you marry Jace if he ask you?

Clary: No.

Q: Why?

Clary: I’m sixteen. I’d assume he had a head injury.

Q: Did you think to make love with Jace that last night? For a second?

Clary: Maybe a second. It would have been a mistake.

Q: Why would it be a mistake?

Clary: We would have felt bad about it. Even later. Now, our first time can be ah, normal

Q: Are you more into shoujo or shonen manga?

Clary: Shounen

Q: What I need to do to win your heart?

Jace: Be Clary. Otherwise, cooking me breakfast is always a good start.

Q: How much effort do you put into your looks?

Jace: I eschew product. I am naturally stunning.

Q: Would you ever consider going out with Simon?

Jace: Is jumping into a pool full of razor blades an option instead?

Q: Do you think Jocelyn will accept your love for Clary?

Jace: Over time…a really long time… I think so.

Q: Do you find Clary’s love for manga or anything else about her, very endearing or cute?

Jace: You really want me to say sappy things about my girlfriend, don’t you? But it would embarass her. She’s shy. Which is endearing. And cute

Q: If you were gay… do you think you’d ever date Alec?

Jace: No.. daing your parabatai is illegal.

Q: If you could say one thing to Valentine right now, what would it be?

Jace: It’s more of a hand gesture.

Q: What did you feel when Clary walked in on you and Aline?

Jace: It was what I wanted and also NOT what I wanted.

Q: Do you plan to get into Clary’s pants anytime soon?

Jace: That… is up to her. Also PRIVATE

Q: What would you do if clary broke up with you for Simon?

Jace: Assume she was possessed.

Q: Are you planning on REPLACING the tights that were ripped?

Jace: Suddenly, I feel creepily watched….

Q: What do you like most about Clary?

Jace: I like the way she never backs down. And her... well, never mind.

Q: Would you ever die for Clary, like to save her life?

Jace: Of course.

Q: Do you have any guilty pleasure?

Jace: Ideally the majority of them are at least a little guilty.

Q: Where would you take Clary for a romantic vacation?

Jace: Going anywhere with me is romantic. Well, maybe not Newark

Q: Why did you date all those girls?

Jace: Why deprive them?

Q: Did you feel relieved when you found out Clary was not your sister?

Jace: No, I was hoping to go down in history as an infamous pervert.

Q: What do you love most about Clary?

Jace: When you love someone, you don’t categorize the things you love about them there isn’t anything about them you’d want to live without.

Q: Does it make you jealous/nervous that Jace has had other experiences with other girls?

Clary: No, I know this is different.

Q: How tall are you?

Jace: About 5’11. Are you measuring me for something?

Q: What did you first notice about Clary?

Jace: That red hair is hard to miss.Then the glare-girls don’t usually glare at me.

Q: Can I have an autographed pair of your undies?

Jace: I’ve sold them all on ebay to buy Clary a pony.

Q: Do you like Latina girls?

Jace: I only love one girl. Now, if you’d gotten me last year..(Clary hits him upsidet he head)

Q: Do you love Clary unconditionally?

Jace: Yes. *looks grouchy*

Q: I have to ask: Did it hurt? When you fell from Heaven, I mean.

Jace: Is that a pick-up line?

Q: Do you practice fighting with Clary?

Jace: Sometimes.

Q: Are you ever self conscious about your looks?

Jace: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

Q: Have you ever considered getting a tattoo with clary’s name?

Jace: Bit of silly thing for a shadowhunter to do.

Q: What does the future hold for you and Clary?

Jace: I can’t see the future.

Q: What is the worst thing about be in love with Jace?

Clary: Not getting to see him often enough.

Q: Were you always a romantic or does Clary just bring it out in you?

Jace: I used to think love destroyed you, so…

Q: For how long did you know Alex was gay?

Jace: Oh, I don’t know. Just always did. Never that important.

Q: Sending Clary poems. Don’t you think that’s just a tad cheesy? Mundane?

Jace: If you think art is cheap, I feel sorry for you. Anyway, do you think we Shadowhunters don’t have our own painters? Artists? Poets? Writers?

[angelwood-if]

DEMO (EDITING)

Genres and tropes: urban fantasy, romance, found family, enemies to lovers, exes to lovers, friends to lovers, murder mystery, action

LUNAR CITY: a gritty but bustling city where supernaturals and humans live in (relative) harmony. Humans live alongside Fae, witches and warlocks, vampires, and so many more. It's normal. It's your normal.

When your father died, he left you with one thing: his antiquities/pawn shop. Decades upon decades of collecting and trading bits and bobs from all types of supernatural histories sit right here in Angelwood Antiquities, a staple of Lunar City and the shop you have now inherited.

It was his life's work, and you've done everything in your power to keep it running.

But when someone comes in bloodied and begging for you to take hold of a magical object, you don't know what you're agreeing to. You definitely don't expect him to die at your feet, telling you to take good care of...them.

Them?

Turns out the object is no object at all, but an ancient being that could be the key to stopping a multi-species war that's been brewing right under your nose..and your father may have had something to do with it. And when that being chooses and bonds to you--giving you its power--you are now thrust headfirst into the world of supernatural. The same world you've managed to avoid.

Entangled with a cast of characters who will help you save the world, you are now both human and supernatural, a rare feat. And the most important person in the city. And it will be up to you to save it.

Angelwood is an urban-fantasy inspired by stories by Sarah J. Maass, Cassandra Clare, and Holly Black. It is primarily centered around romance, with a fantasy, murder mystery, and war brewing at its core. The demo is already written and undergoing editing.

FEATURES.

Customize your MC's gender identity, pronouns, appearance, personality.

Navigate a gritty city of supernaturals.

Embark on an adventure to find out what war is brewing in supernatural circles and how to stop it.

Romance a multitude of supernatural and human characters, including a Fae, a Greenwarden, and an entity bonded to you.

Angelwood is a primarily romance and character-driven.

Play in a gritty, supernatural world where not everything is what it seems.

CAST [ROs]

IVAN CROSS (M)(FAE) - Ivan is the cold and distant Detective of the LCPD. He is also a powerful Fae, with a menacing reputation that makes most people scared to cross him. Ivan is not exactly a team player and he seems insistent on railroading this tentative partnership you didn't even want to have with him, but he's also the only one who can make sense of whats happening to you. Seems like you're stuck with him.

It doesn't help that you two aren't on the best of terms considering he closed your father's case without much effort.

FREYA (F)(GREENWARDEN) -- Ivan's second-in-command and your other partner that forms this...odd trio. You expected Greenwardens--powerful sprites that manipulate all things nature--to be smooth talking and caring. Wrong. Freya is snarky and punchy, and determined to get her mission done. Maybe it's because she's half human. Who knows.

DOMINION (DOM)(UNKNOWN) - Dom is the smooth-talking entity that is now in your head and giving you their powers. You...don't really know what to say. They sure are a flirt, at least.

KALEL/KALIS (M/F) (VAMPIRE) - K, once your old friend (and possible ex partner) is now insistent on joining your group considering they seem to have a stake in this too. (pun non intended)

SELINA (F)(SERPENT/HUMAN HYBRID) - Selina the Serpent is the owner of the biggest gambling den in the red light district, and also someone you don't want to cross. Over the years, she's traded with you on all sorts of things people leave behind in exchange for information...and now she wants to join in one the group. Having her around would really help, considering she has eyes everywhere.

QUINN (F/M)(HUMAN) - your best friend and the one you hired for Angelwood. And a human, which seems to be rare these days.

[doublel27]

i joined thai bl fandom about six months ago, and although i will keep watching thai bl/gl/ql shows, all this latest stuff has been the final nail in the coffin of my enjoyment in fandom. i've been in fandom for about 20 years and i think along with the dead internet we very much have dead fandom. where communities used to be about fic, fanart, fanmixes, etc now it's just criticisms. do people really enjoy this? constant negativity? i appreciate your voice here and am grateful somebody is standing up for people. there are too many bad faith discourse generators in this fandom unfortunately.

Thank you so much! It breaks my heart that you feel this way. The fact that people don’t feel safe to speak publicly or reblog stuff because of a small vocal minority is incredibly sad and disappointing. I am also a fandom old. 24 years baby!

I mean, I don’t think the social media and increasingly isolationist views have helped with fandom, but this energy has been in fandom for a long time. I survived Cassandra Clare’s minions in the fandom that shall not be named and someone having a tantrum (to years after I had said something and left the group) where she deleted an entire EZ-board full of years worth of X-Men role-play writing because more people stood up to her. It keeps happening and always does when people get into feedback loops and don’t engage outside of narrow focus.

I know it seems like a lot of people engaging in bad faith discourse, but this experience has shown me how small that circle is despite how loud and how much they write and reblog each others posts. But also how many people don’t engage with them. There are so many people doing beautiful things in this fandom: edits/gifsets, fanart, fanfiction. There are wonderful things happening, but it does require some hunting.

Someone was talking about creators of gifsets using (fandom name)edits so people could avoid everything in the tags and I wonder if a bunch of us could use consistent thaibl(type of art) as well as (fandom name)edit so that there are some tags that are focused on creation.

Because we can’t change the behavior of bad actors. I have no intention of changing their behavior. That’s not why I said anything. I said something because people deserve a fandom experience where they’re not harassed. And people who are harassed deserve someone to say that’s not okay.

I’m sorry you’re leaving fandom, but sometimes it’s necessary if it’s not bringing you joy! And you can change your mind. I was never coming back to fandom after X-Men, and here I am.

But my ask box and my DMs are open. 💜💜💜

[josephinevalor]

All the books I've read in 2024

So I wanted to do a review of all the books I've read trough out 2024. Those are going to be really quick reviews.

The Bane Chronicles: What Really Happened in Peru

By: Sarah Rees Brennan and Cassandra Clare

Really did not liked this one. Only got through it because I wanted to read all of the shadowhunter's series. There was no coherent plot. Or central conflict. And Magnus just felt so flat in this one.

Rating: 2.5/5

The Bane Chronicles: The Runaway Queen 

By: Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson

I liked this one slightly more than What Really Happened in Peru. But only very slightly. There was way too much exposition and I'm still not in love with Magnus. I also found the story to be too boring and predictable.

Rating: 3/5

Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale

By: Sarah Rees Brennan and Cassandra Clare

It felt like it had 3 different plots and none of them were well developed enough. I have no idea about what actually went down as far as the Accords go, even though that's a vitally important treaty to the lore and the events in the series. I also did not like Magnus in this one either. I found him to be too shallow and too much of a passive character. Like he pretty much only observed and what he observed wasn't even that interesting.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Clockwork Angel

By: Cassandra Clare

I loved this one. The characters were amazing. All of them felt so real and now live rent free in my imagination. I couldn't help but care for them. Tessa is amazing. Will is amazing. And I can't help it but feel sorry for James and his Yin Fen addiction. There were only a couple of minor things I didn't love about it but overall, really good story.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Clockwork Prince

By: Cassandra Clare

I loved this one as well. It's a good sequel to Clockwork Angel. There was less action and more relationships/shadowhunter politics. But the relationships and shaodwhunter politics were no less interesting than the action. In some ways, I actually liked them more. So the plot is still exciting and engaging. There were also some small things that I didn't love about it but overall, once again, a really good story. I couldn't wait to start Clockwork Princess to find out what would happen next.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Clockwork Princess

By: Cassandra Clare

This one was really good as well. The strongest point of it by far had been its characters. There isn't a single character out of the main cast that I wasn't in love with by this point. Henry was amazing. Charlotte was amazing. Magnus showed up. I liked him more in this one than in the first 3 books of the Bane Chronicles. I did found some inconsistencies as far as plot goes but overall I really loved this story.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy: The Whitechapel Fiend

By: Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson

Not the biggest fan of this one. The plot for the 2008 plot line felt all over the place. And I also really did not like Simon. He just whines and complains way too much. For the 1888 plot line, it didn't feel enough like a mystery to me. Like there were no clues through out the story. There were no interesting theories I could have came up with. The events kind of just happened without much backing them up.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy: Nothing but Shadows

By: Sarah Rees Brennan and Cassandra Clare

This one had two plot lines just like the previous book. I loved the 1899 plot line with James and Mathew due to how relatable it was. I was not the biggest fan of the 2008 plot line.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Ghosts of the Shadow Market: Cast Long Shadows

By: Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

This story was not my cup of tea. I did not find it relatable or interesting to think. It was pretty forgettable and it didn't made me think. With this said, I feel like it just wasn't my type of story. It was mainly about Mathew's mistake that ends up having a profound impact on him for years to come. I thought it was pretty well written.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Ghosts of the Shadow Market: Every Exquisite Thing

By:  Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson

I really liked this story. It dealt with Anna's gender identity and how she struggled to stay true to herself while navigating her role as a woman in her society. While the story is fantasy, at the heart of it it's about Anna's internal struggle and the fantasy elements are more windows dressing. Over all, I really liked it. Couldn't find anything bad to say about it.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Bane Chronicles: The Midnight Heir

By: Cassandra Clare and Sarah Reese Brennan

Overall, a pretty good story. I liked Magnus in this one. He was also playing a pretty passive role but that was the point of the story: him being used and taken for granted by the Shadowhunters. The only thing that I didn't like about it was the ending. It felt too abrupt.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Jane Eyre:

By: Charlotte Bronte 

After reading loads of YA, this felt like a welcomed break. I absolutely loved the writing style in this one. Surprisingly, it was relatively easy to read while the prose felt so much more memorable and profound. I also loved the character of Jane Eyre. She is strong, independent, charitable, humble, and hard working. It's just impossible not to fall in love with her. Who I didn't like was her love interest: Mr. Rochester. I feel like my girl, Jane, deserved so much better.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Specials:

By: Scott Westerfeld

I've read this book before but I wanted to reread it again. What I liked about it was that it was almost impossible to put down. I finished it in 3 days. The plot was just so exciting. What I did not like about it was how unrealistic some of the action scenes were. I understand Tally is a special and hence can do more than a normal human being. But still. The rules of physics should apply. Even if just a little bit. I also didn't like how the book glamorized self harm. It felt weird to read about how Tally or Shay hurting herself helped make her mind clear.

Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

Inferno:

By: Dante Alighieri

This one was a challenging read. I had to look up what everything meant all the time while reading it. With this said, I really enjoyed the poem. I usually don't like poems but this one had a narrative to it. So it was a poem but also a story. I love Dante's portrayal of hell. And how the punishments in his versions of hell were the inversions of sins committed. The poem is also so incredibly quotable. There are so many lines from it that now live in my head rent free.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Chain of Gold:

By: Cassandra Clare

I did not like this one as much as I liked the Infernal Devices series. I wanted to but I just didn't. The writing style was a tad bit too repetitive. And the friendships/relationships didn't feel as close as in the Infernal Devices. And I overall did not resonate with the characters to the same extent. Also, I did not like the main conflict that much. It was still a fun read. But could have been better.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Chain of Iron:

By: Cassandra Clare

The characters grew on me more in this one. I started to like James, Mathew, and Cordelia a lot more. I was not the biggest fan of the love triangle between Cordelia, Mathew, and James mostly because it was obvious that Cordelia would end up with James. So it felt pointless. I also could not get over how Lucie defeated Belial. It was way too much the "power of love" and broke the rules previously established by Cassandra of what Lucie could do with her powers.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Chain of Thorns:

By: Cassandra Clare

I liked this one the most in the The Last Hours trilogy. I thought the idea of what happened to London and the shadowhunters having to hide from the watchers to be a really fascinating concept. I also grew more attached to the characters. The first half of the book felt a bit too boring though. Not much interesting happened. The second half of the book was a lot better. I also really liked Lilith and hope to see more of her.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Gone Girl:

By: Gillian Flynn

I loved this novel. It's one of my favorites that I've read this year. Amy's character is incredibly fascinating. She is a master manipulator who gains power through portraying herself as a victim. It's fascinating to read how she successfully pulls this off. Nick had cheated on her and he is not the most attentive husband. He has a good amount of faults. While he did not deserve to be framed for murder, Amy's rage felt understandable. While by no means I agreed with Amy's decisions, Flynn made it clear what Amy's motivations were and what drove her to be the way that she is.

This book is also definitely meant for adult readers. It is not YA.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Rise and Kill First:

By: Ronen Bergman

This one is a non fiction book that I've read as research for a novel idea that I had. It's about Israeli intelligence services. Due to me not being an expert in government intelligence or Israel or the Middle East (or anything else really), I can not review this book. I have a strong "no non fiction book reviews" policy. All I can say is: bad idea to screw around with the Mossad.

Rating: NA

The Bane Chronicles: The Rise of the Hotel Dumort

By: Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson

I thought it was a fun story. And unlike most other stories, it was directly focused on Magnus taking an active role in the events. I loved him in this one as well. He was both funny but also got things done when he had to. The only thing I didn't like about it was the ending. It felt too abrupt.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

[ladyhindsight]

i know this isnt rlly ur thing but the fandom is so cooked............ just trying to exist as an anti incest fan is impossible i constantly get told off by other fans im stupid and too serious or missing the symboism idk the fans make me think im takin crazy pills its crazy cause sometimes i think ur too harsh on cc but like the incest stuff i agree with and 4 some reason thats the hardest opinion for fans 2 accept idgi incest is worse than cassandra bein repetitive??

In general, it is problematic to declare certain views as correct under the guise of then ignoring differing ones. Why would some readers get to decide what is too serious and, for what even, stupid? What makes positive views towards the books more respectable and virtuous than those offering valid criticism? What gives the right to hand-wave the concerns some readers have just because you have no issue with them and raise that point above all others? When you suppress the opinions of others and tower over them by dictating how a book should be interpreted and liked, you are less likely to get those who think contrary interested in your views, albeit positive or negative.

Some of the opinions I’ve contested (for instance, those concerning the incest theme or the repetitive nature of Clare’s writing) and that I’ve ever come across seem (personally) to be approached superficially to some extent, sometimes even in untruthful way because of the incapability to understand where the criticism in question even comes from or how it even came about. It is easier to compare two seemingly similar things than to understand their meaning in their own contexts.

I know that no one really wants to acknowledge or listen to anything negative about what they love so much. It seems to be a downright personal insult or attack on your character when something so important and special to you is criticized. For which I think it’s important to separate yourself from that, know who you are and what you think and why, to recognize that something can be shit and improved and what more and that you still like it and/or are entertained by it.

Fiction is the place to safely entertain ideas so far out of our own lives, to challenge our thinking and ethics and moral even. So it’s not necessarily the content of a work that’s interesting or disturbing but rather the implementation of different elements and how they are executed with the rest of what makes a story. And that’s usually where I find my criticism towards Clare rising. Not what is included rather than how it is carried out and presented in the context of this particular author’s writing.

Everyone is entitled and free to their own opinions, as well as to how they consider and value others. It’s the tone of expression and how you treat people in face of disagreement that’s more noteworthy, I think. During the earlier years of the blog, I did receive messages from readers who were less than pleased with its contents or my approach on criticizing Clare’s writing, but I’ve always said and will always say that I’m just one person on the internet offering opinions, viewpoints, and criticism, and whether someone finds that helpful or not is not for me to decide. Though I am endlessly glad for all the people who interact and have interacted with me here and offered wider perspective and insights on different topics concerning TSC.

I don’t know what wisdom to offer, if any, but maybe it’s easier and brings less weariness to just do your own thing and engage less with the readership that does not welcome that type of discussion. I’ve personally had to do a lot of work on reflecting on things that I liked and their relationship to me (Clare’s works as the glaring example here), and coming to terms with that is not an overnight experience. Sometimes it’s also easier on yourself to think I disagree and move on than trying to understand each individual psychology behind every opinion.

I get that I’m sometimes harsh in my critiques. It’s just that I get feelings and the snark comes out, and I’m prone to hyperbole in terms of humor, so the end result is what it is. I’m not entirely happy and more disappointed in retrospect how I’ve conducted myself on some instances while trying to find the proper words and tone when approaching whatever the topic is at hand. And sometimes it doesn’t work and things go to shit. I’m good at being mean to words on paper, but it’s not how I want to be when talking and messaging with real people. :’)

[simplyclary]

Of All Places, Why Paris?

(Screenshot by me)

*This is a break from all the purely TZP related content I've been putting out here and that content shall resume in a day or two but for now, have a Henry related post* ;)

Have you ever wondered about the specificity of Henry's answer to Alex when Henry said that he would live in Paris if he was an anonymous person in the world? Like why Paris? Henry could've chosen Italy, Germany, Switzerland, or Greece which are all lovely places but no, he chose Paris, France specifically.

I pondered on his answer for a little bit and I think I have an explanation for it. This is me sharing that explanation with you guys, if you also wondered about the reason why Henry wanted to live in Paris.

Paris, the capital of France is known as many things, the "City of Love (and Romance)", the "Fashion Capital" of the world and the "City of Lights". To be completely honest, Paris is one of my dream cities to visit since I was a young girl. I've always wanted to see the lights of the Eiffel Tower, go inside the Louvre Museum, visit the Notre Dame Cathedral, eat authentic French food and more.

I'll move on to the main point here before I get sidetracked by my random thoughts...

Henry was so specific when he told Alex that he wanted to live in Paris given the chance of being an anonymous person in the world. I think that given the chance, Henry wanted to live a life that is authentic to who he is and far from the conformities and traditions that force him to not live his life as a gay man.

Back in the olden days and even until now, being gay is not considered to be illegal in Paris. The city even has a very lively queer night life that celebrates all types of sexualities. This is the exact opposite of what is in the traditional English way of life, especially in the Royal Family, which is where Henry belongs in.

To quote what Nora said to Alex "Princes aren't allowed to be gay". Key word is allowed and so that means that until tradition changes, Henry is trapped in his "closet" and is forced to conform to something that is not authentic to him. Merely thinking about this just breaks my heart.

I also want to share some insights from an interview of a favorite author of mine, Cassandra Clare. For those who don't know, Cassandra Clare is the author of the bestselling Shadowhunters Chronicles (which is one of my favorite sagas of all time) and she has introduced me to a lot of my favorite queer characters, some of them also share the same predicament as Henry.

In one of her interviews, Cassie shared that queer people, especially gay men during the Victorian and Edwardian era, go to Paris for one thing: freedom. In Paris, these gay men can live their authentic selves without the fear of being judged by society and even those closest to them like their family and friends. This is also one of the biggest reasons why in one of her trilogies, about a couple of queer characters always reference going to Paris.

Going back to Henry, this idea can be applied because he wants to live his life freely and openly. He even mentions it to Alex during their Paris stroll that only his sister Bea fully knows about him. His mom probably suspects, his brother Philip is completely oblivious and his grandfather, the king, is a cold and hard realist.

Henry also mentioned to Bea after he returns to Kensington from Texas that the idea of royalty in the 21st century is antiquated, which is true because the royals live by tradition and most of them are not willing to change it, which is heartbreaking.

Also, in the film, Henry's grandfather states that the nation simply will not accept a prince who is homosexual. This hurts and angers me at the same time because they already live in the 21st century and yet they're acting as if it's the Victorian or Edwardian era where being gay is not allowed.

This turned out to be pretty lengthy and I may have veered off the tracks a bit at some parts but the main point is that Henry wanted to live in Paris because in Paris, he can live his life as a gay man who has nothing to worry about, not bound by traditions, simply free and happy in his own authentic self.

That's all my thoughts, folks. Note that all of these are my personal thoughts. Feel free to let me know your thoughts.

I did like writing this post and sharing my thoughts with you. Henry deserves the biggest hug and lots of support after everything he's been through and I'm happy Alex is with him.

Now, back to regularly-scheduled TZP-related posts for the rest of the year....(Partly kidding because a thought about Henry/Nicholas might pop up in my brain randomly and if I feel the need to share it, I'll definitely share it here).

Be well and all my love. Have a lovely day/night wherever you guys are.

[malec-ao3feed]

Muse to Re

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/YEHj547 by Salguez Alexander says Magnus is his sun god, Re. And he is Magnus’s Thoth, his moon deity, his muse. His one and only. “Darling! You called me darling!” “Oh, I’m sorry, did I make you uncomfortable? The endearment sort of slipped, you looked upset, and I wanted to make you feel better.” Alexander looks like a kicked puppy and Magnus would not have it. “No! I mean why are you calling me by my surname instead of darling? Magnus pouts. “You want me to?” Alexander asks, mischief dancing in his eyes. “I would very much like you to call me that but given our status���” Magnus is an history & literature professor at Oxford. He first met Alexander in professor of management, Lorenzo Ray’s office when the Adonis made the request to join Magnus’s American literature class midterm for his MSt in foreign affairs and American Studies. Weeks later from that first meeting, his sexuality changes to 'Alec-sexual'. Words: 4444, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunters (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Catarina Loss, Lorenzo Rey, Isabelle Lightwood, Chairman Meow (Shadowhunter Chronicles) Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Professor Magnus Bane, Prince Alec Lightwood, Misunderstandings, Protective Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Alec Lightwood Is a Nice Thing, Angst with a Happy Ending read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/YEHj547

[thebellekeys]

A lot of the “spicy” romansce fantasy authors that kind of pioneered the sub genre (SJM, Jennifer l armentrout, laura thalassa etc) all started in YA, and then in mid series, they shifted and grew with their audience to go more adult in themes.

Do you think Cassandra Clare should have done the same thing and missed this opportunity? Would you have preferred if she reflected this? I personally feel like her fandom would still be as strong as ever if she followed her colleagues suit.

Or do you think that she stayed good sticking to her roots and her writing voice lends itself to not have more adult type of romances and benefits from a fade to black shall we say.

In her latest kickstarter, one of the four novels that are in it, will feature 10 spicy romantic couples from shadow hunters universe. Given this is crowd funded it makes me wonder if, if it were up to her, she would have gone more adult themed but her publishing contract held her back from it. But then from a publishers pov, isn’t that shooting yourself in the foot? All the authors I mentioned above changed their contracts I feel to reflect the direction the audience knew would give the most captain gain.

I would love to know your thoughts on this 🤭.

I don't think Cassie ever wanted to write romantasy or spicy romance-fantasy as her main "vocation".

I think I picked up on this when she deleted a lot of Julian and Emma smut scenes from The Dark Artifices because they didn't serve the progress of the story. Cassie has her indulgences, but she tends to not be overly focused on writing romance or smut in the grander scheme of the fantasy story. Cassie's guilty pleasure in writing seems to be writing semi-unnecessary angst and fluff between close friends more than anything, not spice.

I'm quite glad we're getting some spice from the Kickstarter project, and I think the reason she's making this an additional, optional project and not part of the main series is because she knows it's just for fun; it's not her main "thing", just an additional treat.

So all in all I'm quite happy she didn't follow with the Sarah J. Maas and company trend. And frankly, neither did Cassie's close writer besties either. Neither Holly Black nor Maureen Johnson nor Sarah Rees Brennan have gone into smutty adult fantasy either, so I get why it's not Cassie's preference. Cassie seems more set on establishing herself as a "serious" high fantasy writer now, hence rubbing elbows with George RR Martin.

[dream-beyond-the-fantasy]

4, 13, 21, 24, 25, 33, 42, 57, 63, 70 and 71 for the fic writer ask game!

Thank you for the questions! Okay, this took some time and thought. And some of my answers are long. It will be under a "read more" out of convenience and respect for my mutuals and followers.

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

I really want to write a background and sidestory for a one-off character from George Lopez that Tony O'Dell played. I don't think I've written it yet for a few reasons:

a) I don't know if his character is named Blaine (dialogue and closed captions) or Patrick (credits on IMDb and from the end of the episode).

b) I kinda want to ask Tony about that episode and role.

c) I haven't had time or haven't sat down and focused on it enough to start writing it.

No, I don't experience existential dread over it.

13. talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you.

This isn't going to take long. But in writing my first fic, Is This Love?, I learned that I can write sexy things. This is the opposite of the "write what you know" advice. I have done research and will continue to do more. I've talked with others who have written smut. And I have had some friends read over what little I have written. As I tend to write out of sequence, I haven't published the smut and I'm still a bit anxious about it, but I decided to do this to prove to myself that I could. I wouldn't be upset if Is This Love? is the only fic that I write that contains smut, but proud of myself.

21. pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about.

A fellow fanfic writer? Hmm, I would say @curiousdamage @missviolethunter @cecexwrites @rynnie-rynn @themaradwrites @avatarskywalker78 and/or @the-time-lord-oracle.

With Curious, MissV, Rynn, and/or AvatarSkywalker78, I would write something for The Karate Kid or Cobra Kai because that is the main fandom that we have in common. The first three were with me when I created my OCs and I honestly would trust them to write Julie or Alyssa. But all of them have strengths writing other characters in that fandom that I'm not sure I can do justice or write with the nuance they deserve.

Curious, MissV, and I could finally write that spinoff/revival-type fanfic for The Equalizer with Scott McCall and his OC daughter as the central characters. Or Curious and I could write a Cagney & Lacey story.

With Cece, it would probably be a story set in the Wizarding World with supporting and minor canon characters.

Obviously, a Doctor Who story with The_Time_Lord_Oracle.

And were I to write an original story, it would be with Rynn or Mara.

All of these writers are ones that I greatly admire, consider friends, have created some of the best original characters (I wish they all were canon and I would protect them to the end), and have written many of my favorite stories.

If you are asking about published/professional authors, I'm not sure. Maybe Rick Riordan, Richelle Mead, David McIntee, Timothy Zahn, Jude Watson, or Cassandra Clare (yes, I know some of the allegations against her, but she is still one of my favorite YA writers).

24. on average, how much writing do you get done in a day?

It really depends on it's a workday vs. weekend, how much time I've had to write, and how inspired I was. If I write at least 500 words, I consider it a productive day.

25. what’s your revision or rewriting process like?

I edit as I write, which makes the writing process longer, I'm sure. Then I send it to my beta. After I hear their thoughts and suggestions, I take into account if those serve the story and make appropriate edits. Then I will post it on AO3.

33. do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Honestly, a very rough plot idea. The characters are my main focus and I spend more time thinking about how to develop them and how they will react to the plot.

42. describe the aesthetic of a story in 5 words.

Let me preface this with "I'm not sure that I'm doing this right."

Family. Friendship. Discovery. Magic. Adventure.

57. what is the last thing that a fic made you google when you were reading it?

Okay, these might not be the actual last things, but they are the best that I can remember: Camille Coduri's natural hair color and Billie Piper's eye color.

63. what’s the best insult you’ve read in a fic?

I've read so many fics that I honestly don't know. I'm sorry.

70. are you very critical of your own writing? how much do you find yourself editing (either during the writing or after the fact)?

Yeah, I think I am. I second-guess myself a lot. I edit as I write, so I might spend hours on the same damn paragraph because I didn't like the original word choice, felt it was too similar to something I had previously written, or numerous other reasons. I once nearly trashed everything I wrote for Is This Love? and lay on my bed crying because I thought I was being too harsh on Jimmy and my OC Julie.

71. how do you balance writing and life? do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of writing you have to do?

Hahaha. Balance? What's that? Ironic isn't it, considering that I write for The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai? Yes, I constantly feel overwhelmed by the amount of writing that I have to do. I want to be able to post two chapters for three of my WIPs by the end of 2024. I haven't worked on two of them at all yet. I haven't done any writing since early or mid-February. Sometimes, I feel like a failure because I started writing Is This Love? in 2018 and I haven't even started writing the scenes concurrent with the plot of The Karate Kid, while I've got friends and mutuals who can write, finish, and post a few multichapter fics within a few months.

[amethystroselily]

Honestly The Last Hours is just a culmination of all of the worst aspects of Cassandra Clare’s writing. The melodrama is pointless and without depth, she cannot write character development to save her life, she cannot write slow build romance, she keeps telling you characters have traits that they clearly don’t (show Cordelia being witty and with a sharp personality instead of someone proclaiming she’s the most unique and sassy person they’ve ever met on the rare occasion that she is sarcastic. And stop trying to tell me that james this level-headed leader type every five minutes.), none of the characters react to anything in a way specific to their character they’re all just set to soap opera mode, she’s making like five lore retcons a book, and there’s even more of her signature weird importance placed on bloodlines than ever. Also why is everyone acting like Alistair murdered their entire family just because he was kind of a gossipy little bitch when he was like 13. Like Cordelia acts like disowning him would be the moral thing to do every time someone brings it up. It is NOT that serious!

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

tell us more about cordelia! something you love, something you wish we knew more about, something you relate to, something you've discerned that we might not have seen yet, why she doesn't seem to know any neurotypicals yet might be neurotypical herself, etc. just cordelia. i think we should talk about her more

Cordelia, Cordelia, Cordelia!

She is my daughter. She delights me. She confounds me.

Despite being one of my favourite characters in TSC, I find everything she does baffling. Every time she is faced with a choice, any choice at all, she does the exact opposite thing than I would have done. For her, she makes the right choices. If I made her choices, though, I'd rip my own hair out. We are SUCH different people.

I actually really like this. A lot of my favourite characters are important to me because of the ways that I find myself mirrored in them. Matthew, Alastair, and Thomas are all great examples. Cordelia serves a different function to me as a window character. Watching her is like a huge character study in someone Very Unlike Me who's extremely complex, likeable, and ultimately lovely.

Matthew and Cordelia

The sole exception to this "Cordelia-and-I-make-different-choices" rule is when she runs off to Paris with Matthew, which I would have done. It would have been a good decision for me but was actually an awful one for her.

I'm going to be a little rambley here, but I want to talk a little bit about her relationship with my Best Blorbo Matthew. I think that she fundamentally misunderstands him, which is interesting for me to watch as someone who's so similar to Matthew. I might dissect the whole scene one day when I have time, but there's this bit where she's rejecting him where he's going on and on about all the places they can travel to. She says, "we can't always be running away." This was so interesting to me!!! Because it was so obvious to me that Matthew wasn't running away. He's planning his dream future full of unknown adventures, and he's trying to fit her in. She's too settled, she wants to be settled, and that's okay! They're just not compatible. But she so greatly misunderstands what he's trying to do, and I kind of turn my head to that scene to go "huh. That's why I don't understand her."

Daisy, My Daughter

There are so many things I love about Cordelia. I absolutely adore her bravery and her compassion, and I think she feels a lot. I think she's strong and independent.

I think that she's capable of being crafty and sneaky when she wants to be (see: the wording of the oath she has Lilith repeat to her in ChoT.) She's my daughter, my ridiculously frustrating daughter, who I know has a brain somewhere in there that she never uses.

I also will say that I really like the drive that she has to be a hero. It's refreshing to see a girl character who actively attempts to realize a goal like that rather than someone who's thrust into a world Chosen-One-Style. Both Clary and Tessa were "Chosen One" type characters, which served their genre well for the time. Cordelia, like Emma, was just an ambitious Shadowhunter, and I find her story very interesting as a result. And I like how Cordelia is in part driven by a desire for merciful, compassionate heroism (unlike Emma, who was driven by a desire for revenge). It sets her apart from all the other Emma-type Badass Warrior Girls who want to go out and kick as much ass as possible.

She's such a delightful person and one I would be proud to call a friend IRL. And she's a great character in a lot of ways, though I think there are some narrative issues holding her back.

Cordelia and Cassandra Clare's Narrative

I feel like Cordelia is the one character that I wish I could steal from Cassie and repurpose. I generally really like what Cassie does with most of her characters, and I like a lot of the things she did with Cordelia. If I didn't, I wouldn't love her so much. But I think that with some VERY MINOR tweaking, Cordelia could have been even better.

The issue with Cordelia is that the author gives her very little agency. The narrative serves to protect her and James as the Herongraystairs kids, and I get that, but it feels like Cordelia is often just dragged along for the ride. Like, she is the main character! Why is she given almost no agency or real choices? Why is she just swept along with the narrative as a pawn in this large chess game that is TLH? I was talking with a close mutual @alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer a while back who said it would have been great if Cordelia became Lilith's paladin willingly to try to take power from all the awful men who abuse it. I would have loved this! If Cordelia had been allowed to get just a little bit messy, bend the rules of morality, and make some mistakes, she would have been even more incredible than she is.

The Impact of Lacking Agency

This narrative issue manifests as my least favorite Cordelia character trait: her hyper-naivete. She is so naïve in a way that is almost unbelievable to me as a reader. Like, her response to "dad's an alcoholic who's been abusing me since I was 10" is "huh!!!! That's why I found gin bottles everywhere and he was super clunky and they stopped serving wine! Who'd have guessed?" And, she literally swore fealty to this dude who said he was Wayland the Smith because... he said so? Like ??? Girl!!! Other people, especially your brother, have paid a great price for that naïveté. That bothers me.

The thing that's annoying about this is that I've come to the conclusion that Cassie didn't intend for Cordelia to be so naïve. It was a side effect of giving her no agency. If someone is an adult, that means they necessarily have agency; if someone has agency, they lose moral purity. Ergo, Cordelia was necessarily naïve.

Alastair and Cordelia

I also feel like re: the writing, I find Alastair and Cordelia's dynamic to be simultaneously excellent and irritating. Because he sacrificed his whole life for her! It should not have taken her several months and a murder accusation to marginally stand up for him! I'm sorry!

But I also really love their relationship, especially in ChoT. It makes me so happy to see them joking around together like normal siblings, and I feel like Alastair by Beloved Blorbo gets to kind of... be a normal guy with his little sister, if only a little bit. He doesn't need to act in loco parentis anymore, and they're immediately messing around. I love it.

Again, I wish the relationship were written in a more cohesive way. Maybe it's because I don't have a sibling. But it feels like Cordelia DOES acknowledge that Alastair is the constant lifelong protector that she wants to call out to when she's scared. But she also simultaneously says that he's like quicksand unprompted and tells Matthew that he must think she's terrible to love him.

Cassie, why!?

Cordelia and her Neurodivergent BFFs

This is a funny observation you make, that she "doesn't seem to know any neurotypicals yet might be neurotypical herself." And I agree, actually! I don't really have a lot of thoughts on this besides "that's just who she naturally wound up around because of her familial and life circumstances." What do you think of it? I'm curious to know. <3

[ngatwa]

Ever since I was a little girl, I've been obsessed with fairies, but not the trendy, hot ones that everyone loves nowadays. I've always been in love with cruel creatures that resemble the most beautiful human beings but have frightening non-human features like animal traits, completely black eyes, green skin, blue hair, etc. These creatures could kidnap children to turn them into fairies, deceive you, or even harm you...

I was so fixated on these types of fairies that when I was 6 or 7, my mom got me a book about fey in myths. It's still my favorite book in the world, and because of it, I know so much about these cruel fairies.

Now, I have a problem. Movies, books, and TV shows about the kind of fairies I'm obsessed with are almost non-existent. I've read Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles, and I loved the faeries in those books, but they still didn't match what I was looking for. I attempted to read The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, but I didn't like her style and the fact that the book is written in the first person. It was very hard to read, so I didn't continue.

The only thing that perfectly depicted the fairies I love is an episode of Torchwood. I rewatched this episode a couple of days ago, and it's still just as amazing as I remembered. The script is beautifully written.

So, I want to ask if anyone knows movies, books, and TV series similar to this episode of Torchwood? I want to read or watch something modern about my favorite types of fairies.

[lovecrafts-iranon]

Here are some of my thoughts on the authors I am insane about. Some of them I think are good, some of them I think are bad, some of them I haven't even read! It's more like "how do these people (especially the way others talk about them) factor into my personal mythology" and less "do these people write good books." To explain this better I will start with the one I can explain most precisely and write plenty of words on, Cassandra Clare/Claire.

Cassandra Claire

Cassandra Claire was the biggest Big Name Fan in the Harry Potter fandom and used her fandom success to become a bestselling YA novelist. I have read all of her fanfiction and a few of her YA books. The first book of her famous fanfiction and the first book of her first YA series are both passable as average adventure stories with bloated romance subplots, but after that they balloon in size and become entirely focused on boring romantic drama. So I don't like her work but it's not like she's the worst author ever. In her fandom days, she had several scandals, the biggest being that she plagiarized both funny TV quotes and paragraphs from a published book in her fics.

The way people reacted to her was what fascinated me so much. Her fans called her a Goddess. People were having late night group chat release parties for new chapters. If you go to any Harry Potter fan's LiveJournal around the time she was big, there was a mention of her. The hype was so big. I had before dismissed fanfiction as the kind of thing I would ever write, but when I saw records of Claire, I desperately wanted the kind of attention she had. Wanting her fame was the reason I started writing fanfiction. I read her fics and her drama and thought I could do even better than her. I would be just as popular but never plagiarize, so I would be even more popular. And my stories wouldn't be boring romance crap, so even more people would want to read them.

Isaac Asimov

So Isaac Asimov is the original and eternal "guy I want to be" (when it comes to writing. I hear he was a creep in his personal life but that's not what this is about. Whenever I talk about him here I'm just talking about him as a writer). He's the king of science fiction. I can always pick up a book by him and know it's going to be good. If you think about who the archetypal science fiction writer is, his name pops up first. And that's what I want! I want my name to pop up first in people's minds! That's the biggest dream since forever. For my name to pop up first. Whenever I read his writing, I thought, this is so good, and at the same time I had a deep feeling that someday I wanted people to feel the same way about my writing that I did about his. (And of course there's always the little I-can-do-better voice saying well he wasted his time on having a wife and kids while I would be fully married to the job...) I want to be him more than anything. I would be willing to spend all my time for decades to be like him. Well, if I could. I used to think I was good enough to be him. Once I got proof I was not good enough, my life has been years of nonstop misery. Mourning, really, over the me-as-Isaac-Asimov who died.

Henry Darger

If Asimov is the God figure in my mind then Darger is the devil. He's the worst type of person to become (as an author) and the person I am constantly terrified of being. Putting all that effort in, millions of words, for nothing. The writing equivalent of digging holes and filling them back in using all of your time for the rest of your life. A writing void. A writing black hole. Nobody will ever call Darger a great writer or even say his writing improved with practice. They will only say he was an interesting feller. That's not what I want to be, that's not enough! And there are so very many of him. Sort any amateur writing site (such as a fanfiction site) by word count and you'll find plenty with no audience. You can find a lot of Darger works by going on the TV Tropes forums and clicking the links in people's signatures. It's horrifying the amount of effort sustained over a lifetime these people put in only for zero fame. It looks worse than death to me. Becoming a Darger is a big reason I want to kill myself, though so far I have been too cowardly.

Vladimir Nabokov

I like writing and chess and bugs. So did Nabokov. Only he was way better than me at all three. It's just weird to me he was into the same things. His success and my failure at the exact same stuff shows that a general ability to succeed at things (we can call this intelligence) exists and I do not have it.

H P Lovecraft

He was really crazy. Sometimes I think there's a cutoff. A certain amount of crazy you can be and still end up writing things others end up enjoying. And beyond the cutoff you become a Darger. Lovecraft exists just before that cutoff. And I'm after the cutoff. I used to think of Lovecraft as kind of inspirational as a crazy person but not anymore.

Ken Liu

Ok I'm not that crazy about Ken Liu. But his name makes me sad whenever I see it. I loved reading his short storied in high school and I always fantasized about telling him in person as a peer. I wanted to be in the same general group as him. We could be friends because we would both be successful science fiction writers, you know?

[josephinevalor]

Clockwork Princess REVIEW (SPOILER VERSION)

By: Cassandra Clare

TW: Suicide

Characters

Tessa

I already loved her from the previous books. She is assertive. She is brave. She cares for others. 

She also makes a good amount of mistakes but they are the type of mistakes that most people would have made. She agreed to help Mortmain by shape shifting into his adopted father in exchange for Yin Fen for Jem. Which since Jem is dying without it, is a reasonable thing for her to do as an attempt to help prolong one’s loved ones life.

 She forgets to hide her clockwork angel necklace while trying to fool Mrs. Black into thinking she is someone else. An oversight most people would have made in her place. Especially after just being miraculously saved from dying and walking for hours to find an abandoned house to stay at. 

She decides to rush into the fight instead of staying back in the institute. But she was always doing that. Will and the rest of the Shadowhunter gang were fighting. She couldn’t just stay back. 

Those mistakes make her more relatable. They make her more like us. 

Despite her mistakes, she is quite smart and resourceful. She makes a run for it away from Mrs. Brown’s carriage when the opportunity presents itself, she tried her best to appease Mortmain while being kept hostage by him, and she was the one who saved the day by coming up with the genius idea of turning into the angel that was imprisoned in her clockwork necklace. 

Will

He doesn’t have to pretend anymore but old habits die hard. He does start to act a lot better but he still makes rude jokes from time to time, adding a good amount of comedic relief. 

He still has his mischievous and spontaneous side to him. But he is not an outright jerk anymore.

Also we get to see a more serious and angry side of him. He was enraged when he thought his parabatai had died and then he took it out on a group of werewolves.

He starts to show how much he cares for Tessa. He goes alone on a mission to save Tessa from Mortmain despite the risks. It was not the smartest idea but it demonstrates how much she means to him. And every time, he was bringing up how important it is to get Tessa back from Mortmain whenever there was a meeting between Shadowhunters. 

I'm not as team Jem anymore.I love both Jem and Will for Tessa in this novel. Tbh, they should have just ended up as a thrupple, they are so good together. 

Jem

Jem continues to be a tragic character. He runs out of Yin Fen due to taking too much. He was trying to make himself more healthier by using it. He wanted Tessa to see he was doing well because of how much he loved her. 

The Love Triangle

Normally I don’t like love triangles. But due to how all three characters care for each other and love each other so much, this love triangle is just so precious. For example, Jem and Will were arguing about who of the two of them should have Tessa. Both of them were encouraging the other one to be with her. Which is a testament of how much the two of them care for each other.  Will also bought Yin Fen for Jem the whole time, was by his side almost every time when Jem was having his health problems, and hid the way he felt about Tessa. 

Tessa also loves both of them. At the beginning, she chose to be with Jem because she already accepted the engagement. She knew if she were to decline and go for Will, that would ruin their parabatai bond. And that would hurt both Jem and Will. So she made the hard choice to say "no" to Will. 

Tessa and Jem also where willing to go to great length for each other. Jem threw away a sample of Yin Fen he got from Mortmain in protest of Tessa wanting to willingly give herself up to Mortmain in exchange for it to help prolong Jem's life.

After Jem turned into a Silent Brother, that cured his Yin Fen problem. Btw, they fit Jem’s personality pretty well being rule followers and proper and such. But they are not allowed to get married. So Tessa started dating Will but only after Jem gave his blessing. 

Tessa did sleep with Will when he came to rescue her, but she thought that Jem was dead. So because of that, I don't really consider it "cheating". And they were also in extreme circumstances and thought they might die soon as well.

The Ending

Tessa ends up with both Jem and Will. Will in 1878 and then Jem in 2008. The book ends with the two of them getting together again. 

Theme: Loss and Grief

Tessa is immortal (Well... she doesn't age. She can still be killed). Will is Mortal. So Will died and Tessa had to go on living and dealing with the pain of losing the love of her life. And then presumably will have to go through the same thing again with Jem. Unless Jem becomes a vampire or they somehow die together in some sort of an accident or a battle. Usually this elephant in the room of immortal with mortal relationship isn’t addressed. But Cassandra tackled it head on describing it in poignant detail in the epilogue. How Tessa has to deal with loss and grief over and over again and then go on.

Jessamine

Dies in the automaton attack right in front of the institute. I feel for her despite her being a traitor due to how broken down she was in the Silent City (and how naive she was). I don't think she deserved to die. I don’t like her being “resurrected” as a ghost, though. I would have rather her stay dead. That would have made her death more impactful. 

Charlotte

She is back to being a great leader similarly to how she was in Clockwork Angel. Tough when she needs to be. Kind and comforting when she needs to be. This dynamic is especially evident with Gabriel. She has a tough conversation with him while accepting him into the institute. But then shows kindness and empathy towards him over the loss of his father.

She actually starts doing her job as a leader. She leads the attack on Mortmain. She directs the shadowhunter gang more in terms of what needs to get done.

Henry

I love him by this point as well. He joins the fight against Mortmain together with Charlotte instead of staying behind in his lab. And he is not an incompetent scientist anymore. He creates the portal together with Magnus, which allows for them to teleport from place to place and travel at “lightning speed”. It is considered an incredible invention and revolutionizes their way of life. Just goes to show how if you continue on trying, one day you might succeed and do something great, even if most of that time you were screwing everything up. I found Henry to be an inspirational character for that.

Sophie

Sophie now feels like a well developed character not just an extra. She is given her own plot line, with her love story with Gideon. And she spends more time having girl talk with Tessa. The book goes into her thoughts, dreams, feelings and opinions a lot more.

Gideon: 

He is in love with Sophie. Sophie also has feelings for him but at the same time she feels like they are inappropriate due to her being a servant. And him her employer together with Charlotte. 

Sophie and Gideon coming from different worlds as far as wealth goes is perfectly exemplified by the scone scene. Gideon ordered Sophie to bring scones just to see her more. Without realizing that it’s additional work for Sophie. So Gideon made her do pointless work.

He was a bit of a spoiled rich kid with that one. And sadly, this does happen quite often IRL. Rich people often do not see the perspective of their employees.

Gideon does learn his lesson though and they end up being together in the end. His proposal for them to get married when he blurted it out in front of Charlotte was so awkward and funny but also adorable.

Gabriel

Gabriel almost has his turn to the dark side in this one. He almost writes a condemning report on Charlotte to Wayland after he makes Gabriel believe that his father’s death was Charlotte’s fault. Which in a way it was but it had to be done. 

I mean by this is at the end of Clockwork Prince, Charlotte and the gang blackmailed Gabriel’s dad, Bennedict Lightwood, to get him to drop the charges against Charlotte. This saved Charlotte and Henry from losing the institute. Consequently, Bennedict had a fallout with Mortmain. Mortmain stopped giving the cure for his disease, which caused the disease to progress. And this eventually turned him into a warm. So in a way, it is Charlottes fault since if she didn't blackmail him about it, he likely wouldn't have turned into a warm.

At the same time, it had to be done. Not through blackmail but through notifying the clave (which would have been even worse for Gabriel and Gideon). What Bennedict was doing (helping Mortmain) was way too dangerous and bad for the rest of the Shadowhunters. So that had to be stopped somehow.

Gabriel’s almost turn to the dark side makes him feel more real. People falter and have set backs. They don’t start acting all perfect even when they are becoming better people.

Gabriel's relationship with Cecily

Their relationship is so wholesome and fun. They would joke around with each other a lot and have that fun banter. 

Cecily

She is torn between loyalty to her family and doing what she loves. She wants to bring Will home as well as return home herself (which is what her family would have wanted.) But she fell in love with being a Shaowhunter and wants to fight demons, monsters, etc.. with the rest of them. And this conflict is something that most of us experienced as teens. We didn't want to become shadowhunters, of course. But the underlying idea is the same.

Magnus Bane

He is his wise extravagant self. He continues having the wise quotes. Most people consider him more quotable in this book but I liked the “death is oblivion” quote more from the previous one more. 

Counsel Wayland

He is angry at Charlotte for not reporting the Bennedict situation which is fair. She should report that type of a thing to her boss. I don't think he is a villain. What he does is more in line with good old shadowhunter politics.

Mr. Starkweather

Our favorite racist grandpa. He gets his poetic justice with Tessa. Turns out she is her granddaughter. And he decides that family is more important than his hatred for the downworlders so not a racist grandpa anymore.

Mortmain

He is an intelligent villain. His plan with Automatons is genius. Since they are not made of heaven or hell, shadowhunter magic essentially doesn’t work on them. And by adding demons into them from the pyxis, he now has “intelligent” automatons on which magic continues not working. So they become extremely difficult to defeat. 

He also doesn’t care about anything but his goals. He killed Mrs. Black the second that he had Tessa and didn’t find her useful anymore. He doesn’t even care about those who are on his side. To him, everyone who isn't useful is disposable.  

Plot: 

Starts with Bennedict Lightwood turning into a worm due to his demon pox disease. I don’t know if this was a reference to Dune but… I like to believe that it was. It just makes the book more fun that way.

Then, for a while the plot slowed down and shifted towards the side plots with Jem’s Yin Fen and romance. Despite the slightly slower plot, the book was still extremely engaging and almost impossible to put down. The romance and Yin Fen plot lines were interesting in their own ways.

There was also Wayland sending letters to the council. The council apparently likes Charlotte, which makes no sense, since they hated her in the previous book. Those letters are quite sexist. I Do like the more “victorian english” writing style in them, though.

Around the middle of the book, the pace picks up again with Tessa getting kidnapped during the attack on the institute. It shattered that false sense of security.  It was one of those “things just got real" moments.I expected expected something like that to happen. But the way it happened was jarring enough to push me out of that sense of security. 

The Final Battle:

I loved it. Tessa defeated Mortmain through turning into the angel. It was a badass moment for her. And incredibly satisfying.

Angel, Ethereal, delivered the “though had done what is forbidden by the divine" speech through Tessa and then squashed Mortmain like a bug. I love how Tessa defeated him through the use of her powers and through doing something creative (turning into an angel from her necklace). It was an ending that both made sense and relied on Tessa's resourcefulness, skills, and intelligence.

What I didn't like

The reveal that the clockwork angel had an angel spirit imprisoned in it, the job of which was to protect Tessa’s life, didn't make a lot of sense. It made the ending of Clockwork Angel out of place. 

Mortmain new about the necklace since he was the one who gifted it to Tessa’s mom. So he would know it would protect Tessa from killing herself. Then why was he worried that she died again? Or scared of her killing herself? The angel would have stopped her. And she was wearing it while pretending to kill herself in that scene. So the angel not coming out and at least attempting to stop her should have been enough of a hint that she was pretending for Mortmain to call out her bluff.

The timeline also doesn't make a lot of sense. Based on the speed of the events, it should be around summer or maybe fall at the end of Clockwork Princess. But it's December.

[queenoferdas]

(It’s time for bookish Questions with Julie!) What is your favorite classic book? What is your favorite modern book? What makes a book a classic? What was the first book that made you fall in love with reading? Are you currently reading anything?

I love bookish questions.

Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. Aka the only classic I that I finished that I enjoyed.

Into This River I Drown by TJ Klune? I don't know. I'd have to read it again. I only remember bad things about that book, like the absurdity of it 'cause I have to give a content warning 'cause the plot is crazy. But the imagery is great because that's TJ's specialty. But everything I like is in a series and my favourite book can't be in a series cause that would mean it's a good book in comparison and in relation to the other books in that series and it cannot be read as a standalone. So probably Into This River I Drown by TJ Klune.

I don't know. Maybe that it was written in context to the immediate time, written as a reflection of the society outside the author's window, or in response to events that had recently happened. But, reading them now, it's been fucking years. Long enough for people to study its fashion and studied in an English class.

I don't know about an individual book, because I was raised on series', so it would be Spirit Animals by multiple authors, so basically the Scholastic Team. There's a scene in the 3rd Spirit Animal book that I think about every time I drink water after a significant time of not drinking water, 'cause when Meilin was in the maze, she ran into someone who gave her water and told her not to drink it all in one go otherwise her stomach would hurt. And I knew the first paragraph of the first book off by heart. And I had a crush on one of the characters and he probably defined my type. So shout out to Shane!!

Nevermind my favourite modern book is All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater. The characterisation is impeccable.

I am currently reading 2 books. Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare and Husband Material by Alexis Hall. I love them both so much so far. I cannot wait to keep reading them.