#pack tlh

[caterpillarinacave]

Happy Birthday Will Herondale I know that you would give everybody gigantic scoops of ice cream if you were in charge of dishing up said ice cream

[emmalovesfitzloved]

New intro post 🤓

Welcome! I spend all my time in my secret garden, where I dream up ideas for my Love Bomb blog (in no particular order)-

Bare minimum starter-pack to get to know a bit about me :)

1. I’m 26, living in England;

2. My favourite hobbies are reading, dreaming, drinking tea, and obsessing over my dog Jack;

3. I work in the legal profession;

4. My guilty pleasure is reality shows…;

If you like:

• Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb and Of Cats and Closed Doors by the Legendary @tragediegh 🙏

• The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare (specifically TLH, TDA, TID) and @edwinspaynes bonus chapters.

• Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes ITV series 🧐

• Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erickson

• All Souls series by Professor Deborah Harkness

• Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

• Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson

• Dead Boy Detectives (Tv show)

• Daredevil (Marvel Comics)

• X-Men - specifically Emma Frost and the new mutants (my namesake)

Please let’s moots 😇.

(I have also wrote some essays or addressed some commonly asked questions : -) :

• My response to Booktok turning the book community into fast fashion

• Ranking of SHC Novels

• Tessa Tessa Tessa

• Ranking Top 5 SHC Ships

• Wessa is the Best!!!!!

• Magnus Bane is the best Downworlder

• Love letter to @hazure-cyan’s realm of the elderlings mural

I also love to make moodboards for the All Souls universe by Deborah Harkness which you can find: here !

And if you have time please check out my favourite people ever (who are beyond talented therefore deserve your audience probably more then my fandoming - @edwinspaynes (greatest writer to grace fandoms with bonus content) , @hazure-cyan (my pookie and also greatest artist you’ll probably ever meet), @tragediegh the best gem for the ROTE (from her memes, her story, to her witty posts, just everything! Chefs kiss.) @inkedbydave (witty and beyond imaginative and an amazing essayist) @thebitchforjemcarstairs (an academic you’d be lucky to befriend).

Loads of love!

Gorgeous art from left to right : by pandyals_art on instagram ; @spacehero-23 on tumblr.

[happyk44]

For the character ask- Jason Grace and Jason Todd 💌

Jason Grace

1: three facts about them from my personal headcanons:

Jason suffers from severe depersonalization and emotional disconnect/amnesia

He has chronic pain that he does not treat and ignores because he's had it so long it's become normal to him

He knows ASL

2: a reason they suck

He was not fleshed out as well as other characters - he doesn't really have a backstory and we never see him refer to his past the way the others do, even after TLH when his memories should've come back in full

3: a reason they are great

He's sees the best in people

3: a reason I relate to them 

I was definitely that kid in school was seen as a flawless overachiever

4. (what I consider to be) the top tier otp/ot3 for that character

Lol, I don't write it very much, but my preference is 100% valgrace

5. five things that never happened to that character that I believe should have happened

His arc finalized with him realizing that he wants to learn how to be his own person. He does not go back to Camp Jupiter, but he also doesn't stay at Camp Half-Blood - he just leaves to go on his own journey

He and Leo confess their feelings because, look I love aroace Leo, but also I love gay Leo who falls in love with Jason and they get married and are happy together forever and ever

I also!! Really love the idea of Jason disabling Leo as a parallel to Hera disabling Hephaestus after she threw him off Olympus. There are two options I like: 1) it happens near the end of the book, Jason blasts Leo's arm off by accident in the middle of the battle, Hera is freed and patches him up before he bleeds to death, or 2) it happens during the fight with Circe. Jason pins Leo with heavy air pressure and readies to kill him - but killing Leo goes against his base morals and as a child of Jupiter, he is bound to little else but his morals and the rule of law. So the disconnect between that and with what he's being told to do temporarily frees him of Circe's influence and he's able to deviate and severe Leo's arm off instead. Afterwards, he and Leo use a combo of fire and lightning to cauterize the wound.

I would've loved to see Jason embrace or be more of a representative of Jupiter/Zeus's law and order side of things, the way Hazel and Nico showed the two aspects of Pluto/Hades. Since the Greeks appear to be more within the realm of nature and Thalia is shown using lightning frequently, it would've been cool to have scenes showing Jason using skills outside of lightning and wind. Manipulative Jason who can turn enemies on each other, diplomatic Jason who can convince people to help him so easily. Jason being able to enforce order and calm to a chaotic situation, Jason being able to force his rules, his beliefs, his laws on people. That would've been so much fun - and also a fun way to repel him against the other characters, like Percy, who may be put off by his ability to override someone's free will

Also bloodthirsty wolf boy Jason!! Like yes I get that he wasn't at the Wolf House for that long but who cares? Give me vicious Jason who is protective of his pack, give me starving Jason who rips the flesh from your throat and swallows it whole

6. five people that character never fell in love with and why

I don't understand this question tbh - is it like. who did they fall in love with in canon but I don't think they should have, or who I think they should've fallen in love with, or what.

---

Jason Todd

1: three facts about them from my personal headcanons

His white spot is due to vitilgo. Going through the pit just kind of triggered the gene, sort the same way getting a cold or the flu or severe stress can

He helped take care of Damian as a kid - I think this is canon in one of the animated series, or at least like, implied canon, but unsure about the greater comic network. As Talia was helping him recover and whatnot from the pit, he helped train Damian. He has conflicted feelings about this now, but he remains a safe space for Damian to disappear to whenever he fights with Bruce. Dick may be Dami's big bro now, but Jason was his big bro first.

Autopsy scar! I just like the idea.

2: a reason they suck

He hasn't ripped the Joker's head off yet :( Like I understand why - it has to be Bruce who kills him, it wouldn't be as comforting or satisfying and it wouldn't mean much, but like whatever, someone kill this fucking clown, I hate him

But, nah, on a serious level, I think Jason is a good character. I don't really have anything on why he's bad, other than maybe poor writing? I don't read his comics much tbh

3: a reason they are great

Shoots things and pisses off Bruce

4: a reason I relate to them

I also was an angry little nerd when I was young

5: (what I consider to be) the top tier otp/ot3 for that character

I don't really ship Jason very much, but jaydami would be my go-to because Damian is my favourite. Otherwise, I would recommend either jayroy or jaydick. Or brujay, but only because of the angst potential. I don't really care for Bruce past that, lol. Maybe brujaydick if that's a thing. Little wing getting smushed between people he opposes but also loves a lot. That's hot.

6: five things that never happened to that character that I believe should have happened

I don't have a lot of thoughts on Jason because I priortize Damian and also don't read a lot of comics (so Jason and others get left out because I prefer to read the ones with Damian. Or Duke. Or Dick. The DDD trio lol), but I do get kept up to date by my friends who do love Jason. I'm not sure what never happened to him that I would've wanted to happen to him other than like. Him not dying.

Actually, I do kind of wish they would give Jason his own team. Like I know JayRoy is popular and everyone liked the teamups with Starfire, but I like the idea of each robin sort of having their own little group - like Damian with Jon, Maya, and sometimes Suren, or Tim w/ Kon and the others whose names I don't remember, Bart, Cassie and someone else I think? And then Dick w/ the OG titans. I do get the sibling experience of being friends with your older sibling's friends because they're around all the time and you don't have anyone

I know he had Bizarro and Artemis at one point as a group? I don't know if they sort of "belonged" to anyone else first, but if they didn't, then yeah bring 'em back. Let Jason have his own people to connect with.

Also I want him to beat up Bruce and win. Just for funsies. Doesn't even have to be about anything. Just smack him around.

7: five people that character never fell in love with and why

Right so. Yeah I still don't get this question. 😂 Sorry.

[ladyhindsight]

Clary doesn’t manage the escape from Sebastian and is thus forced to attend the following ceremony so we can finally get to the climax of this book. Eventually…

→ Glaring anyone through eyelashes (many characters do this in the series) is a dumb expression and even more so dumber when you try to do it yourself. Nobody who does that expression looks serious rather than petulant.

→ I don’t like the structure here: …when he’d carried her away from the Dahak demons. Then she had been confused, if not grateful, but now she was filled with a boiling hatred.

Feels more effective, especially making the distinction between the more positive-like feelings Clary experienced towards Sebastian before and the outright negative ones here. (and → but)

We cut to Maia and Jordan. Jordan receives the news of his roommate’s death.

Kissing, cuddling, or even sex don’t exclude commitment or caring, though can be done without neither. Comforting can be inauthentic and without true caring as well. Sometimes it’s difficult to differentiate individual thoughts belonging to characters from the preachy aspect of Clare’s writing because her characters mostly think the same way and have same opinions. And I don’t really care for any of it at all.

Maia then comforts Jordan and receives the call for battle from her pack. Cut back to Clary and Sebastian and me wishing this thing would finish itself sooner because these books are exhausting. Anyway.

Sebastian is a vile misogynist, I get it. Individual Shadowhunters can hate scars or think they are ugly, I get it. But for people that it is the way of life, causation of their abilities and very essence, scars are, primarily, nonissue. It’s lazy and boring to have every character appraising scars—someone else’s or their own—with such intensity and so incessantly throughout the series.

Cut to Alec and Isabelle at the Institute.

Being Jace’s parabatai has less to do with the fact that he is used to conversational tangent. Try brother or best friend. Parabatai came after.

If there ever was a truer fact that was in accordance with the actual writing, it is this. Simon continues to prioritize Clary, even after when Simon hasn’t been Clary’s priority for some time now, if he ever even truly was.

Interesting development, considering they met only a short time ago. Which seems like these background LGBT relationships have to be rushed in order to be taken seriously as representation.

→ Isabelle’s eyebrows went up.

The hell is the point of leading the Clave if you can’t do shit to stop shit. Plot convenience, that’s what.

Once again I’d like to remind us all that people are in this position because Clary and Jace lied by omission and hid the truth. The milk has already spilled and gone stale on the table but because no one ever holds them responsible, I will. Forever and ever.

Cut to Team Evil. They've arrived to the ceremonial site and Clary reveals she has destroyed the Moving House of Valentine.

Once again, I’d really like if Clare managed to write something else than characters remembering something when she needs to call back on some scene. It’s the only way she seems to know how to write this stuff and it persist throughout TDA and TLH also.

Why would Jace care or do something about it if his enthralled and connected to Sebastian? Jace’s wants are Sebastian’s wants, it was clearly stated. Clary’s threat shouldn’t stop anything.

I like this part. The hatred for the uncaring creator and the resentment born from it. A good motivation for disillusioned bad guys.

Isn’t a bit strange that Raziel doesn’t give a shit if the Nephilim abandon their mandate and turn on him? What if the Nephilim took over the mundane world? There isn’t a threat of Raziel if they don’t do their Shadowhunting duties, is there?

Sebastian summons Lilith, she gives her blood for the Infernal Cup, and Sebastian wants to test it on someone who is revealed to be a kidnapped Amatis. What a twist.

[f0xgl0v3]

Seeing as I’ve been dreading doing the SoN re-write post because I don’t have the full outline done, I present,

SoN Re-Write; what I have done so far done in really informal terms

(P.S this is really long sorry guys-)

The Brain vomit ‘I think that’s how I wrote it in my notebook’ with all of the silly bits instead of it being more formal because I can leave the more ‘official’ I guess one for later when I do have the entire story outline roughly done. Anyway,

We start out with a sort of maybe prologue? I like prologues and they can help set up the story (I know tLH is going to have prologue type thing that’s Hera doing Hera stuff) but this prologue starts at the end of Percy’s wolfhouse training. He’s waking up from an Annabeth dream, he gets up and notices that both the pack and his training buddy are just.. gone? He walks through and sees Lupa, who says something something about like Rome and then gives the vague directions on how to get to Camp and it’s like “go south :3”

Then we’re at the stretch to get into Camp Jupiter it’s pretty much how chapter 1 of SoN goes down. Maybe we get word that Percy has like a backpack or something (so stuff like the pillow pet and where that’s been makes more sense because I forget how they explain Percy having the pillow pet goes down) and we like slash slash at the Gorgons and they reform, showing that something’s up and soon enough he’s running down and spots Calcedott tunnel and the two legionnaires (Hazel and Frank) freak for a second and call for him to get over to them.

Percy gets over to Hazel and Frank; who take him through the tunnels. It’s being debated if I want Hazel to collapse Calcedott (Is that what she does in the book? I don’t really remember-) to set up Hazel and her like, power. But Hazel is busy collapsing tunnels and stuff, so Frank is helping Percy, they get roughly to the Tiber as the Gorgons are back. Percy (with aid from Juno in a Homer-esque style) does the power thing and the Tiber does Tiber stuff. By that time a couple legionnaires had filed out including Reyna and Dakota as notable people. Reyna is like “woahzers” and Juno does Juno stuff behind the scenes and Dakota kinda like, shuffles his legionnaires + Percy and Reyna tells him to like, do stuff? Idk, she has to talk with some before before talking with Percy and trusts Dakota to like keep them in check- build up Dakota as a respected guy

So they get to walking camp and stuff Dakota explains what camp is until they reach the Principa They go through the Reyna questioning scene and then she tells them “Go to the Auguraculum so Octavian can like; double check that your supposed to be here” and like yeah. Dakota is excused to find Frank. When leaving the Principa Nico appears out of nowhere, says he needed to talk with Reyna about some stuff but would take the detour to walk with them.

We set up Hazel and Nico being siblings, Nico and Hazel not liking Octavian; all the good things. He wishes Hazel good luck and they enter the Auguraculum. It’s dimly lit apart from the skylight and smells, nicely; just a lot like incense. The central Dias lowers so Octavian can talk. Hazel and Octavian stare at each other silently, he tries to make a joke ease tension, it fails. Kinda drops that he knows it’s Juno who sent Percy here (Percy doesn’t know either, Octavian just like switches the topic and says that he’s the Augur so he should know this stuff) Ushers Percy and Hazel onto the Dias, claiming that it’s better to be closer up to the heavens, Hazel says something how at least it’s not dead animals so we can sneak in the animals fact. Octavian is cool and does the pillow pet thing (asks Percy if he has any stuffed animals with him that are significant. Percy fishes it out of his bag not expecting Octavian to take it) but the Gods say that Percy’s a-ok. We get the blackmail comment (this time including Calcedott’s collapse) and Octavian calls Percy back a second to slyly express interest in Percy joining the 1st; saying he has good potential. Hazel and Percy leave, we get a sneak peak of Mercury slipping into the Auguraculum after them

They leave. Maybe know is the Frank switch, I’m going back and forth on if I want PoV switching or if I want each book to just be in 1 PoV but for that PoV to switch- we’ll see.

Anyway we get to dinner; the legionnaires don’t like Percy because he relied on his powers and gets special God treatment. Frank’s back, if we don’t do PoV swap he complains about the armory stuff he had to do and then Hazel probably explains that the legionnaires don’t view powers positively (set up the dynamic of Hazel being more in tune with demigod life and the small underbelly of camp, make Frank a bit less experienced but able to be a little more comforting or something- idk). By now Dakota and Mercury slip over, Dakota makes a comment about people flitting between tables all the time, introduces Mercury as an Optio (we get the introduction to the Optio role). Dakota addresses her by her nickname Freddie- she quickly corrects Percy and tells him that only her friends call her Freddie (honestly the whole legion does she’s just salty that a Percy is the newest topic of discussion-) She grumbles a bit and gives a backhanded compliment about Percy’s Tiber incident and says that Octavian was talking about him. Dakota and Mercury maybe banter a bit, she says something about letters of recommendation; explains what those are before someone (Kahale) calls over for her and she’s gone.

By now Reyna calls up for the announcements. Welcomes Percy into the legion officially, here’s where he gets his Probatio tablet. Octavian asks about letter of recommendation, Percy vaguely remembers some envelopes in his bag (Juno planted them; she wanted her guy to succeed-) but they’re gone, or unusable or Percy simply is getting bad vibes from the 1st cohort between Mercury being a little snappy, Hazel and Nico not liking Octavian and stuff. So whatever, Octavian tries to make a case for having Percy join the 1st because of the talent he’s shown, Reyna shoots him down and Dakota snatches Percy up for the 5th. She announces war games, Percy makes eye contact with someone in the crowd whose been staring him down (Bryce Lawerence)

Yay okay, uh. A couple days later. Dakota drags Percy up to a Centurion meeting between the 5th, 4th, and 3rd because more opinions are better than none. Hazel and Frank come along. We meet Gwen!! The other Centurions sit there and are like “Dakota dude, why are they here”, Gwen smooths things over a bit. Uh, we meet her, she tells us that she’s the Senior Centurion of the 5th, daughter of Mithras; gets a personality, shown to be well-liked, easy going, positive. They all yap about stratagems or whatever, 5th gets to be the front lines. Dakota and Gwen bring Percy and Hazel over to the side and go “hey we kinda wanna be cool and like Romans so pretty please don’t use your powers because we want this win to feel genuine” or whatever. Uh, Bryce, is there after the meeting breaks up. Percy stumbles over when Bryce calls his name; he says he’s in the 2nd cohort and that, “it’s for losers who had good letters but weren’t strong enough for the Prima cohort (1st)” he’s sharpening an old family heirloom 1st cohort stamped Pilum (this is important information). Percy gets kinda gross vibes, but Bryce is a sleazy manipulative guy and they walk for a little. Percy notes that people seem to avoid Bryce while they walk, Bryce talks about how he admires Percy using his powers and says how he should in the war games because “Everyone’s on their high horses here and don’t know what it really takes to win” Percy walks back to the barracks conflicted.

War games, war games!!!! Goes pretty much how the actual war games go. Uh, set up that is was indeed Bryce who stabbed Gwen, Octavian is still missing his Pilum. Mars shows up, he’s having trouble staying Roman at the moment, claims Frank, then is splitting a bit too much- gets a couple lines of prophecy out before having to go. All eyes go on Octavian, Reyna diffuses, says to go about their days and they’ll go to the Senate with this soon.

Soon is, the next day at 5:30 sharp. Dakota wakes up Percy, Frank, and Hazel. Explains the Senator stuff while tugging on his toga, says that Gwen’s been inside of New Romes actual hospital due to the severity of her wounds. They head to Camp, Percy notes that he hasn’t seen Bryce since their talk two days ago. Uh, Senate meeting pretty much goes as expected, Octavian gets to actually dish out a prophecy like the cool Augur he is (Mumbles under his breath a little about how it’s not quite a proper prophecy). A Senator proposes Octavian lead the quest seeing as he is the Senior Centurion of the first cohort. He awkwardly says that his job as Augur is too important and that he wouldn’t have quest mates eligible for this mission (elude to Mercury’s family line *The Varus family* being cursed and standard loosing and that Octavian would want to bring his buddies. But bringing Mercury and Michael means there’s no one in charge of the 1st, and Reyna has too much stuff on her plate-) Reyna kinda does Octavian a solid and switches the topic to the fact That Frank was asked to go on the quest by Mars. Everyone (and Cato the Youngers ghost is still there in the audience because I’m sorry but that was a really funny inclusion-) are all in uproar because excuse me that’s a Probatio. Reyna gets enough votes to makes Frank a Centurion (After we get that cameo by Gwen in the crowd saying that she got her honorable discharge from the legion.) Frank picks Percy and Hazel to go on the quest and yay or whatever. Reyna mentions them packing and Octavian bringing them to the docks to go immediately, says there’s more important things and as Octavian is leading them out Percy sees Bryce being dragged up to the center of the Senate room.

Octavian’s kinda iffy. Respecting Reyna’s choice but doesn’t think Frank (or any of them) are ready for a quest like this maybe aside from Percy (look when a guy shows up covered in battle scars, invulnerable, and very strong you take him seriously too). Makes a comment about how they could’ve gone and used one of the legion cars but Someone collapsed Caldecott; Hazel quips back and Frank is like “stop fighting >:((“ and they walk out. Get to the docks where Octavian gives them their stuff, wishes them the best of luck, makes a kinda good joke about how he wouldn’t be good for the quest anyway knowing his families luck with boats (haha Augustus Caesar boat joke-) and off they go :D

Okay that’s all I have drafted out right now that I’m confident on. I have to go re-read how the actual quest-quest part of SoN works through because the order is jumbled in my brain and it’s all like soupy until they get to the iceberg with Enceladus.

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

now I'm curious on those thoughts and character, can you put them under a read more?

Sure. I guess.

Devoted Grace/Gracetopher lovers, exit stage left. I like the ship too, and this is NOT an anti post by any means, but it definitely is a somewhat critical hypothetical.

Over the past few months and couple of TLH reread, I've found myself becoming ... disenchanted with Grace. I still love her character. I find her interesting and her story is undoubtedly resonant, though I think other characters had stories that packed a better punch for abuse survivors and those looking to heal. But I'm not really feeling protective of her anymore, or like, adoration for her anymore, if that makes sense.

I think this is partly because I have become SUPER attached to James again, as I was for most of my TSC fandom life. It was easy to brush Grace off when I temporarily wasn't spinning James around and around in my head like a plate in the microwave 24/7, but I'm back to that state I was in for several years. I just took a little hiatus ♡♡♡♡♡

Anyway.

That's Thought 1 on the Character.

Thought 2 is a what-if scenario where Christopher hasn't died. What if Christopher hadn't died and Gracetopher became an endgame ship in Chain of Thorns?

I think that, while I really like their dynamic and would 100% want Kit to be happy because he deserves it, it would have caused James, Matthew, and Thomas a LOT of pain. I think Thomas would be really angry and distance himself, but would not fully cut Kit off - but I think it would be his right to if he did. I think James and Matthew might genuinely stop talking to Christopher because of everything Grace did to James (and to Matthew that one time), and I think they would be right to.

I think it'd be different if they got together in like 5 years, but immediately in ChoT would have been a trainwreck and I could not take Kit's side even if I like him and Grace together. But it's hard to know without having James's PoV on Kit defending Grace in ChoT, which we'll never have.

[shoecrabs]

I decided a few months ago that I wanted to try rewriting tLH to see if I could give Jason and Piper stronger character voices (and maybe derail the plot so that I could make it more connected to new rome and the newer characters haha *shoots the series with my AU-ification beam*)

But at the same time, I'm realising how much more was packed into the unexpressed details than in the explicit ones. Sure, I'm currently only on chapter 2, but I read ahead, and one thing I saw about Jason specifically is the fact that he is so used to the Roman standard of what a soldier is that he never even respond to Piper, Leo or Hedge once the fight starts. It's like he's in the unfeeling soldier mode, because he never fully expresses anxiety or impulsiveness at the fact that his supposed best friends could die any at any moment. He doesn't jump after Piper or help Leo until he's been given an order. It's like the "born a Roman, die a Roman" thing is etched into his psyche.

And for Piper I always had this feeling that she's been suppressing all her feminine and empathetic qualities so that she wouldn't be made fun of or devalued. Reading about how she interacts with others feels very on brand for a young girl who wants to fit in with the boys because she can't connect with the girls for one reason or another, and in the first chapters we know it's because she's an outcast among them. I think the best example of what I'm saying is that she is so quick to defend Leo and Jason and make sure they're ok, but unlike later on in the series, she doesn't hold them, or outwardly express her relief or concern. It's like she's trying to not look weak around the boys she's befriended. She doesn't want to lose them.

Another thing for Piper that I realised is that she constantly channels her desperation r sadness into anger. She flings herself at problems, as if proving to herself she isn't just some weak, spoiled brat. It's like she's running that part of herself like her dad is, and we all know she got that from him.

which then brings the painful thing within the trio. they're all running from themselves while also trying to look normal to the others. Leo is obviously running from his past. Jason just doesn't remember what he was running from, and keeps doubling back to chase after it. Piper is so used to doing it that she doesn't realise how it hurts her until she's exposed to positive outlooks and acceptance/encouragement

[an-affectionate-heart]

Gracetopher Week Day 4 (and 3ish)

I've never really written for TSC or TLH, but after how strongly Chain of Thorns hit me, when I heard there was a Gracetopher week going on I couldn't really resist doing something for it. I kinda wrote this in a rush over the past few days - apologies for any errors! It's also a kind of dual submission for yesterday's prompts and today's. Partially because I didn't have it done yesterday (whoops!).

Anyway! Hope you enjoy. 😊

<><><>

When all is said and done, Christopher comes back to them.

After Belial disappeared into the heavens in a swirl of bright light, after Lilith was cast out, there was a moment of stillness in the abbey, and outside. It felt as though time was suspended, being held in place. Grace didn’t understand it, until she heard an ethereal voice in her head. Like the Silent Brothers, but… different.

What do you desire?

Afterwards, when trying to describe this moment to others, no one was really able to articulate how they understood what was happening. Only that they knew, deep down, they were being granted a very special, nearly impossible gift. It seemed the only ones truly aware of this phenomenon were their core group, scattered though they were.

Grace only had one thought. And she was certain she wasn’t the only one to think it; Anna, Thomas, James, they all recounted their own experience in a hushed sort of voice that spoke of hardly daring to hope. No one said what they’d wished for, but it was clear nevertheless.

Christopher.

The moment came to an end. The sky returned to normal, the sounds of the city and the aftermath of a battle returned. The doors to Westminster Abbey were thrown open, and the members of the Clave rushed in with a distressed clamor.

Grace exchanged dazed looks with Lucie. Jesse came over and touched her shoulder; there was a moment where he hesitated, and Grace didn’t know what to make of it.

They were swiftly bundled up by parents and aunts and uncles and brought back to the Institute. James especially was transported with care, Cordelia’s hand firmly clasped in his and Matthew trailing resolutely behind. It made Grace’s chest twinge.

Now, back in a packed Institute, Grace stands alone. Some of her friends – can she really call them friends, she wonders? Now that they are no longer bound by a bigger fight? – like Ari and Lucie take some steps toward her, but they’re intercepted by adults eager to check on them and ask a million questions. Jesse is in a cluster with Thomas, Alastair, and Thomas’ parents. Grace knows Gideon and Sophie are Jesse’s family. Technically, they should be hers too, but she has a feeling they won’t see it that way. And truthfully, the Blackthorn name hasn’t hung right on her for a long time now.

Feeling out of place and uncomfortable, Grace slips away. She has no idea where she’ll go now; with James’ parents back and likely to learn the truth of what she did to him, they probably won’t want her to stay at the Institute. Jesse might attempt to vouch for her, but she couldn’t say she was especially confident in that these days, no matter how well they worked together while London was under Belial’s control.

Until she’s kicked out, though, she has a room she can escape to. The raucous bustle of everyone downstairs gets quieter with each step she takes, though there’s a moment when the volume seems to pitch even higher, Shadowhunters yelling and crying out. It catches her, makes her freeze in place until she realizes they are sounds of joy rather than fear or pain. It truly is over this time, it seems.

Grace shuts her door firmly behind herself and leans back against it. There’s an emptiness in her chest that, while she’s always felt its existence, is sharper now. More prominent. She supposes it doesn’t take a genius to see why.

The war is over. Good prevailed over evil, and now the rebuilding can begin. But while others might see hope in the future, Grace still sees shadows that have yet to solidify into anything real. Her mother – as much of a mother as Tatiana was – is gone. She has no other family save Jesse, and he’s already made more headway in building a proper life for himself than she has. She’s barely had any training, most of the Enclave hates her, and the one true friend she seemed to gain, the one person who practically offered her a future, is dead.

A sob bubbles up in Grace’s chest at the thought of Christopher. She presses her shaking hand to her mouth, trying and failing to suppress it.

“Ave atque vale, Christopher,” she whispers to herself. She barely knows the Shadowhunter traditions, but she knows that much. And she knows he was robbed of the chance to be properly mourned, what with everything else that had been going on. He deserved so much more than he had been given.

Sometime later, after Grace moved to her bed, a knock on the door makes her sit up. She expects it’s Jesse, come to check on her and possibly offer some food. He’d been very vigilant at getting her to eat when she was working on the fire messages, and that habit likely isn’t going to go away.

She stands on unsteady feet and crosses to the door. When she opens it, though, she’s met with lavender eyes instead of green.

Christopher offers her a bright, crooked grin. “Hullo, Grace.”

Grace thinks that if she hadn’t grown up in a literal house of nightmares, she might scream. Because while Christopher isn’t a nightmare – could never be that – it isn’t right for him to be standing there before her. And she checks – he is standing, and not floating like a ghost. He looks as solid as ever, as solid as Grace herself.

(She checks that too, glancing at her hands and down at her torn, stained dress.)

“You’re -” she says, and stops. Her eyes are filling with tears, and her breaths come in rapid pants. It seems her body has caught up with what her mind cannot process, not yet.

Christopher seems unbothered by her inability to speak, though somewhat alarmed by the sudden appearance of tears. “I know it’s a shock,” he says. “I think I gave everyone the worst fright downstairs when I walked in. Anna held me so tight she might’ve bruised my ribs, and Tom nearly fainted. I know that I went away for a while, but I must say, I didn’t really expect that kind of reception upon my –”

Grace cuts him off by throwing her arms around him and pressing her face to his neck. Christopher sputters a moment in surprise before quieting and pulling her close, arms snug around her waist.

“I’m sorry,” he says, softly. “Jesse warned me that you might be startled by my appearance, but – I wanted to see you.”

Grace only hugs him tighter. A thousand emotions are racing through her right now: Disbelief, joy, grief. It is hard to reconcile the memory of his death, still so fresh, with him standing before her, once again flesh and blood.

“Are,” Christopher tentatively says. “Are you going to say anything?”

Grace takes a deep breath and pulls back only enough to properly look at him. At his spectacles, already sitting crooked on his nose, and his surprisingly delicate features.

“I missed you more than I can say,” she confesses.

Christopher smiles then, and Grace thinks she’s never seen anything quite so beautiful.

“I missed you too,” he says. “I think. It’s hard to say what happened after – well.”

Grace knows this isn’t the end of it all. Regardless of how he is now, Christopher died, and that can’t be easy for someone to come to terms with. Even now, with a sweet smile on his face, she senses some unease within him.

But that’s when Grace makes a vow to herself. As long as he wants her around, she silently vows to help him get through whatever demons he now faces (this includes the literal ones, she decides; Jesse can start her training again). He won’t have to face anything alone.

“Christopher?”

He hasn’t let go of her yet, and vice versa. She won’t be the first to pull away, propriety be damned.

“Yes, Grace?”

“If I offered my services to your lab, as a partner of sorts, what would you say?”

For a moment, that unease fades in Christopher as he lights up, his eyes shining with happiness.

“I’d say that’s a capital idea, Grace.”

[cabeswaterdrowned]

which tda book is your favorite?

Lord of Shadows slightly edges out Lady Midnight although they’re really close since I love both so much… but LoS has the overall most impactful arcs and storylines to me the section in the Unseelie Court is probably my favorite part of the series, and the ending packs a big emotional punch to say the least. It might be my favorite tsc book period actually I really love LoS. Also like I just said in the previous ask I tend to be a middle book(s) or middle seasons girlie it’s just who I am. I think this book struck a neat balance between being character driven and plot driven that was extremely effective although to be clear it would probably also be my favorite if it was just character centric filler angst about Emma&Jules because that’s who I am… but I’m still glad it was more than that! LM is also wonderful in a way that few first books in fantasy series are to me usually there’s a slow burn for me to be really invested but not here, and the whole murder cult mystery with body horror (had forgotten about the missing hands that made it even better) + forbidden romance + familial dynamics themes combo and vibe really works for me. Qoaad is my least favorite of the three but I still really like it, and I definitely thought far better of it on reread compared to when I first read it since back then I had been anticipating it so hard and theorizing etc. and had very sky high expectations (especially with Clockwork Princess being a rare perfect finale to me and with how much I loved the first two tda books I hoped for Qoaad to accomplish the same thing..) on reread I could evaluate it more for what it is and I came to the conclusion that about 80% of the actual content of the book I am a fan of, it’s just that the pacing of the book is insane. Genuinely if that book was split into two books and they were paced normally I’d have loved them as much as the first two I think! Genuinely I think cc has gotten too attached to trilogies as the sole structure for her work and it’s a big part of why the receptions for her last two finales have been what they are … (well I’m sure there are multiple factors at play but I’m confident that’s one of them) also maybe even effected tmi part 2 because I remember cofa being pretty filler and the plot there feeling like it could be resolved in a duology? I love almost every individual storyline in that book so if you asked me which ones I would snipe for the third book to be paced correctly I’d be hard pressed to get rid of things but if you split it into two books and grounded them each tonally to feel distinct and just gave us some breathing room I think you could stick the landing! But since I like almost every individual element of the book it’s an enjoyable reread when you already know where the story ends up and the best parts of it really work for me / get a level of emotionality from me no tlh or tmi book does so it still ranks high (like #6ish since I like all the tid books more as well as first two tda) for me, I slander her but she’s my bestie <3.

[angeldaisies]

On the one hand I was happy by knowing tmi as I knew many would survive, but on the other some scenes felt like rewatching a movie, I think cc knew and so centered it all in developing the characters

that’s also why i think the tlh characters are so well developed! and that was great for me, don’t get me wrong - i’m very much a character > plot kind of person. but at the same time, i realise that going from tda, which was very action packed and plot heavy (something that some people loved) to tlh, which was significantly less so, was probably a jarring transition and that’s why people enjoyed it less.

[zoyalannister]

thanks! I remember it because I was mad we never got any scenes of Cecily with her kids meanwhile all the other ladies got them, and also if Cassandra wanted her to be a stay at home mother , dangerously close to a tradwife, for me it would make more sende if she took prt in training Christopher home, or at least talk to him or Anna, we never saw her reaction when he got injured in the first book, or when she was a Head of Institute with Gabriel and everything with the Greatdemon took plce which almost took Gabriel’s life

thanks for the snippet and if you want of the other I would love it aswell

I totally agree with you, the treatment of Cecily (and Gabriel, and their children) in TLH is embarrassing and they look like they’re written by a 12 years old who hates them. I wish we could have seen more dialogues with Cecily and Anna or Kit, because as a fanwriter those are probably my favourite part to write.

By the way, here is a snippet from Bad Luck:

Gabriel was flabbergasted. He stood in front of a supermarket shelf where the yellow sign read Meal deal at £3.99! In front of him, sandwiches that looked one worse than the other were wrapped in triangular paper-like containers. On his left, a shelf full of crisps of low quality brands were stored, and on his right a ton of bottles of juices, flavored milk and power drinks occupied the other shelves. “What’s that face?” Cecily asked, grabbing a pack of vinegar and salt crisps.

[lastfrontierheli22]

Skiing Safety Within The Wilderness A Heli-ski Primer

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Coté started flying helicopters in his early 20s, however – like Doty – he didn’t get into heli-ski piloting for a while. He’s lived and worked in Revelstoke as pilot since 1995 but didn’t begin working as a heli-ski pilot till the final 20 years. “You’re dealing with terrain – steep terrain – and difficult terrain, and obstacles. After savouring the previous few minutes in his mattress, Doty is up at 6 a.m., in his truck, and out to the Hillcrest Hotel for the STHS morning meeting Heli skiing BC. The meetings cowl everything from weather, snow circumstances, to passenger weight (which elements into gas calculations) and guaranteeing the all-important half mile of visibility. “Everyone to my left,” Gertsch says as he leads us down a billowy slope near the remote southeast fringe of Glacier National Park.

Today, Bell 212 helicopterscan ferry teams of up to 10 skiers and two guides. Half a century after helicopters first transported daredevil recreational skiers excessive into the mountains of British Columbia, heli-skiing continues to be the last word alpine rush for many. Every run leads via unspoiled snow — a resort skier may not get this many fresh tracks in a whole season. If I had my climbing skins on, it will take days to ski an identical quantity of vertical. The firm Gmoser founded—headquartered in Banff, Alberta—now has gross sales reps around the world and a fleet of 11 lodges throughout B.C. CMH is the titan of the industry, however with tens of millions of dollars of capital invested in lodge infrastructure, it has to remain nimble to keep beds and helicopter seats stuffed in the face of competition.

[leitorespacks]

The Last Hours pack

© malecbane

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

How do you think the TLH gang would do as parents? Do you think some of them will chose not to have children?

I definitely don't think Thomas and Alastair will have children! I am a big fan of childfree Thomastair, and that's how I portray them in my fics. Fun gay uncles that everyone loves. But I am also open to them adopting an older child who was in an abusive situation, much like Alastair was. It would be really sweet to see them give a child who needs love desperately a home. But that's not my first choice - I just wouldn't mind it, and it's my 'if they did have kids' scenario.

I'm not too sure about Matthew. I thought he would be a really fun dad back when I thought he would get with a woman and be Clary's ancestor. I no longer think this. I think he'll be with Sylvain. And, if possible, I would like Matthew to remain childfree as well. Because I don't really think he's the type of person who would necessarily want to be a parent, you know? But I'd need to see his dynamic with his partner first.

James and Cordelia are the only ones I'm rah-rah over seeing as parents. I like to imagine them with two girls - Layla and Iris - and then a boy as the youngers. Like Thomas and his sisters, the two girls are constantly doting on the brother. James is a total girl dad. They take the kids on adventures and teach them to love learning more about the world, and also Cordelia makes up bedtime stories for them and James acts them out with finger puppets. My God I love them.

Ari and Anna are going to be Interesting to see as parents. I love Arianna. Don't get me wrong. But I do NOT think they should be adopting a child now. Anna will need to totally overhaul her personality and lifestyle, and their relationship is also, like, six months old. I feel like Ari will be a wonderful mom, and I really hope that Anna will too. I'm rooting for her. I just am really struggling to see the shift from ChoT epilogue Anna to immediate parenthood. I think a few years between now and adopting a baby would have done both characters good.

I think Lucie and Jesse will have a ton of kids. A whole pack. And one of them is Marjorie.

[theamazingmaddyas]

You're not being rude, this is the point of a debate, to talk about these things. I screenshotted and attached your other reblog so I could respond to all of it in one go!

I think the point of TSATS, and therefore Solangelo, is to show that entering a relationship isn't the end all be all. At least, that was the take away I took from the book—the have insecurities and miscommunication throughout the novel, and both Will and Nico have to work on themselves as the story progresses because their relationship is suffering because of it.

I also dissagree with your claim that Will is a one-dimensional character. While he isn't as flshed out as some of the major characters, he is shown to be a flawed character (something you can't have without dimension) in as early as Blood of Olympus, which is a book where he really doesn't have much plot relevence. Starting with the dream sequence with Clovis, Nico describes Will as a cat in the sun, and extremely laid back, as well as having a way to diffuse people's anger (ie Clarisse). However, later we see that he also has a stubborn streak when it comes to health, is headstrong, and doesn't really think before he talks. He's also really insecure, something that comes up often throughout almost every book he's in (he's constant insistance he's "just" a healer is proof of this, even when he's shown time and time again to be more than that—ex being a mediator, have a mean whistle, and later plague powers, and one could argue that his ace bandage in TLH has implications of this.) which doesn't quite line up with what other characters say about him.

(Quoting Ellis Wakefield in his POV in Camp Half-Blood Confidentials when he's saying who he thinks will win Sherman's cleaning competition.)

"After some jostling and debate, five contestants stood up to volunteer: Will Solace, Miranda Gardiner, Billie Ng, Cecil Markowitz, and Damien White. My money was on Will or Damien to win whatever Sherman had cooked up. Will because he was clever and quick. Damien because he was devious." (pg 95, US first edition)

Another prominent characteristic is that he suppresses his own feelings, and triages the importance. A quote from The Hidden Oracle:

"'I know!' Will snapped, 'Don't you think I want to be out there searching too? We're shorthanded for healers. There's some salve and nectar in that pack. Go!' I was stunned by his tone. I realized he was just as concerned about Kayla and Austin as I was. The only difference: Will knew his duty. He had to heal the injured first." (179, US first edition).

We also have his reaction to Apollo as an indicator that he triages importance, and his feelings are low on that list:

"As soon as they (Kayla and Austin) were gone, Will gave me an apologetic smile. 'They're in shock. We all are. It takes some time to get used to... whatever this is' 'You do not seem shocked,' I said. Will laughed under his breath. "I'm terrified. But one thing you learn as head counselor: you have to keep it together for everyone else...'" (87, US first edition).

You also make the claim that Solangelo is one-dimensional, which, while I don't have my copy of TSATS with me to quote it like I quoted CHBC and THO, I still believe there is depth to. This is specifically in reference to my earlier claim that TSATS' moral is relationships do not fix everything. Will has trauma from people dying in his arms and therefore has a negative view of the Underworld, and the fact that this isn't discussed snowballs into a larger argument. Additionally, Nico still being stuck in grief (for Bianca and his mom, and to an extent, Bob) and unable to let go also adds tension. While Nico has started to heal off screen (which, I understand the frustration of not being able to see this first hand, and have no rebuttal for that) has plummetted after Jason's death (which, I personally see as a very good platonic relationship starting in late HOH, though I would've loved to see a conversation about Jason and Leo's thoughts on Nico in the jar.)

Additionally, the fact that Will and Nico's relationship depends on the "opposites attract" trope seems a bit of a surface level take to me (apologies if that sounds rude), because a good chunk of their relationship actually depends on the fact that they're both stubborn, and traumitized, and suppressing their emotions. They're two sides of the same coin, but the way that their grief is manifested differs. Both of them prioritize others over themselves (Will with Paolo's injury over his grief of losing Kayla and Austin, and Nico with, well, everything over his grief of Bianca) while the series does not dive into this, we can assume that he has unresolved trauma from, specifically Michael's death (as he was head counselor then) especially since he has to keep it together for everyone else.

Now I'm pretty sure the last claim was Nico's character being butchered in TOA but I personally just see that as him trying to interact with humans after self-isolation for so long (see: my previous post on Nico's extroversion, I'd like it but I dunno how), and to me is more in line with how he acted in TTC.

Also, I don't have ptsd and cannot speak on how valid the representation is, but I have studied it, and I think Nico's traumanin TON is just an icing on the cake type of situation. He doesn't get PTSD just from Jason dying, but rather from the repetitive nature of getting close to someone only to inevitably lose them.

And yes, shoving people into a relationship is not going to heal them, but I think that they are starting to heal by themselves and are just supporting one another. Their romance isn't what's healing them.

Again, this is my opinion, as is yours yours, but I'm just trying to convey my thoughts in a coherent way so that you can see where I am coming from. I don't speak on behalf of any other solangelo shipper nor on any other person who enjoys Nico's character in TOA.

I'm prolly going to get flamed for this, but I'm actually sick and tired of people defending Rick's tokenist queer rep. I feel it is insulting to authors who genuinely write good LGBTQ+ characters.

Now let's take Nico, for eg. People pull out wildest mental gymnastics to make sense of his implied,small PJO crushes on Juniper and Annabeth. Rick retconned it later (nvm the fact that he forcibly and violently outed his first gay character, and basically treated the said outing as a plot point to convey that he's gay...)

But anyways, whenever you try to explain it's tokenist, people say "oh he was blushing around Juniper because Percy was right there!"....yeah, like totally...his so-called crush invited him to his (Percy's) birthday, and Nico didn't even bat an eyelash, yet I'm supposed to believe he's blushing around a random girl because Percy's standing there? Like how does that even make sense...?

Personally, I also feel so miffed that he turned Nico's deep, beautiful platonic love into a crush. (Call me biased if you like; I'm aspec so I always feel put-off when people pretend that platonic love can't be as deep as romantic love).

Also, If that interaction with Annabeth in BotL is brought up, arguments are "oh, he misses his sister"... honestly, it was written like a crush:

Anyways, I'm sorry if this came across as offensive; I'm willing to hear your constructive criticism. This is just an opinion.

Lastly, I'd like to add that Bi and bispec people exist, and Rick could've considered that.

[incorrectlasthours]

Four-year-old Lucie: I’ll be up late. I have homework.

Will: You’re in preschool, darling.

Lucie: I have to color this whole picture, papa.

Will:

Will: I’ll put on the kettle.