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[bookish-nerd9]

Dear Cristina, from Emma

Dear Cristina,

I was going to try addressing this letter to Polyamorous Cottage In Faerieland, but I figured it might never be delivered. :) Ok, ok, I’m kidding. I’m sending it to the New York Institute—Clary says she’ll hold onto it for you. I know Jules and I have been popping around the globe like ping-pong balls, but we’ve finally settled here in London for at least a couple of months, so you can — and should — write me back at the London Institute — I’m not sure the place we’re staying even has an address.

(And sure, I could have just sent you a fire-message, but I have too much to tell you. Buckle up.)

So, a while ago Jules and I were in Manaus, in Brazil, studying the Curupira demon, when we got called into the Rio Institute. They had a message for Julian. His great-aunt — yeah, the one he was visiting when you first came to L.A. — had died. Really sad. And then, remember the beautiful house in Sussex where she lived? Well, she left that to some cousin nobody’s heard of, but she left Julian Blackthorn Hall. Which is a crumbling ruin in Chiswick (kind of a suburb of London). And then we had to come here, because of a codicil in the will (ahem, according to the dictionary, that’s “an addition or supplement that explains, modifies, or revokes a will or part of one”). Either Julian has to fix the place up, get it livable again, in five years, or he has to donate it to the Clave.

Anyway, you know how Julian is. He makes up his mind fast. We Portaled to London the next day after he got the news.

I was all set to eat scones, drink tea, and go on the Eye (all the things I didn’t get to do last time we came to London, due to being pursued by unkillable Faerie warriors.) But that was before we took a black cab from the Institute out to Chiswick and really saw the place.

From the outside it looks like a museum or an old library—you know, big marble columns, grand staircase, big metal dome on top that looks like it should have a telescope in it. (It doesn’t; I checked.) But inside it’s more like a fairytale. Not, like, something from Faerie. Or something from a kid’s movie. It’s like one of those fairytales where a crumbling palace sleeps for a thousand years. It was kind of romantic, for about five minutes. Then we spotted the first rat, nibbling on the tassel end of one of the drapes.

It’s a weird mix of interesting history, weird old art, and total ruin. There are cool portraits of old Blackthorn ancestors, mostly intact. Julian says he doesn’t recognize most of the faces. Some of them have names written on the back of the canvas or on the frame but other than “Blackthorn” none of the names mean anything to any of us. There are wooden chests full of ancient books and papers, and beautiful overgrown grounds that I’m sure were once gardens and are now England’s version of a jungle. There’s an old greenhouse and a weird little brick structure we can’t figure out. (Storage shed? Very small weapons room?) The whole place is just a mess, and most of the house isn’t habitable at all anymore. Someone built an apartment with “updates” off in one wing, probably in the sixties. (The apartment, by the way, reminds me of that vintage shop in Topanga I dragged you to. Remember?) Whoever lived in it left a closet of all kinds of vintage clothes and there’s crazy flower-patterned wallpaper and modern art everywhere. At least the apartment has electricity, running water, and heat, because the rest of the house definitely doesn’t —

I’m back now. Sorry, had to stop writing for a second. Julian was calling me. He was up in what was probably a ballroom? But anyway he took a wrong step and his foot went through the floor. (Not all the way through the floor, which is a relief. But it definitely made a hole.) The ballroom is big and dusty, but you can see how long ago it must have been beautiful, and very fancy. It has these huge French doors that open onto marble balconies, though most of the glass in the doors is gone now.

Once I freed Jules from the broken floor I figured it was my only chance to try to talk some sense into him, so I pointed out that this is a gigantic project for two people who have never fixed up a house before, and that we have a perfectly fine place to live already. And the weather is better there.

Jules, being Jules, took his time answering, really thinking about what I’d been saying. Then he said, “If you don’t want to do this, we don’t have to do it. You’re more important to me than a house. Any house.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to do it,” I said. “I just don’t even know where to start.”

Jules calmly explained that he’d been in contact with some faerie builders of some kind, hobgoblins maybe? who would be here Monday to do “a walkthrough.” Then he put his arms around me and said, “I know we can always live in the L.A. Institute. I love it there, too. But as much as any Blackthorn legacy exists, this is it. All these old papers, whatever secrets the house is hiding, they’re our family history. I want to pass it on to Dru and Ty and Tavvy. I want to give them what I never had.”

Well, what could I say to that? I get it. I have Jem as my living family history. Jules doesn’t have anything like that. And while Aline and Helen run the L.A. Institute now, they might not always, and besides, it belongs to the Clave. I get that he feels like he can’t give away a big chunk of his family’s history without giving them a choice in the matter.

I said, “All right. We’ll see what we can do. If we ever decide it’s too much, we can hold a big family meeting and everyone can vote. Keep the place or not.”

He picked me up and swung me around. Then we started kissing. I’ll be merciful and not give you the details.

So I’ve decided to consider all this An Adventure. It’s like an archeological site, and we are intrepid historians. Later I’ll see if I can convince Jules to put on a tweed coat and a pith helmet while we sort through the debris. Because whoever lived here before had a lot of stuff. It’s a big house, and every room has furniture with drawers and cabinets, and inside every drawer and every cabinet is clutter. Rusty weapons, water-damaged books, little boxes with more clutter in them, costume jewelry, portraits of random people, broken teacups…And remember, we’ll be going through it without any light but witchlights.

Anyway. I wanted to let you know what I was up to, and where we were. Our travel year was basically over anyway, so this is a sort of way of extending it and spending more time together. I’m not sad about that part. I was actually doing pretty well psyching myself up for the excavation of Blackthorn History, until this morning.

I know I said the house seemed haunted, but I was joking. Mostly. I’m not Kit; I can’t see ghosts unless they want me to see them, and so far I haven’t come across any ectoplasmic spirits with messages from The Beyond. But the place does feel odd — I keep finding myself turning around at the end of long, spiderwebby hallways, as if expecting to see something in the shadows. Or imagining I glimpse something over my shoulder in the mirror. I chalked it all up to nerves until this morning, when I came into the dining room and saw that the words “GO AWAY” were written in the dust on the floor.

I literally jumped. I was actually reaching for Cortana before I got a hold of myself. Don’t be ridiculous, I thought. That message could have been written any time. Long before we got to the house. It could have been sitting here in the dust for years, undisturbed.

I have a confession to make, though. I rubbed the GO AWAY message away with my foot. I didn’t want Julian to see it. He worries too much as it is. I didn’t want him to have that same bad moment of shock that I did, especially over something unimportant.

I feel better getting the story off my chest to you, though. Oh dear, Julian is calling for me again, I can’t wait to see what he’s put his foot through this time. I will write again soon, and in the meantime pip pip cheerio from London!

Love to you and the boys,

Emma

[bookish-nerd9]

The Whispering Room: James’ POV

Here it is finally — James’ POV of the Whispering Room scene from Chain of Gold. I wanted to wait until Chain of Iron was released to give more people a chance to read the book, and also because what we learn in COI does inform the scene. I hope you enjoy!

Keep reading

[bookish-nerd9]

What is your coping mechanism? And why is it rereading the Paris chapter from Chain of gold?

[bookish-nerd9]

What do you think of the "revenge bad" tropes frequently found

it actually pisses me off sooooo much when characters are like "ohhh but if i hurt or kill the bastard who made my life and others' a living hell i'm just as bad as they are!" like grow up and shoot him what are you catholic

[bookish-nerd9]

Chain of Iron question!!!!!

For a while the book was out of stock for preordering on Amazon US and I don’t know if this was due to where i live or what but now it’s in atock and I preordered my copy but my question is does that mean that the book will not be a first edition and won’t have the extra stuff?? Or are any preorders will be first editions even after they were out od stock for a while!!!!

[bookish-nerd9]

Guys i need help!!

Now I remember Cassandra Clare saying that there’s going to be an extra story about “Jem and Tessa’s wedding and why no one remembers it” my question is, is this story going to be in The Lost Book of The White first edition or Chain of Iron first edition? I can’t for the life of me remember which one it was and I can’t find the post where she said that!! TIA

[bookish-nerd9]

hungry sundogs and their dreamer

[bookish-nerd9]

cut scene from Chain of Gold

London, Grosvenor Place, 1901

Once upon a time there was a prince with golden hair and dark green eyes. He was happy, until a prince from a neighboring kingdom told him that his mother the Queen had been unfaithful to his father the King.

In despair, the prince purchased from a faerie woman a potion that would force his mother to tell the truth. But when he gave it to her, she swooned away, near to death. The royal physicians came, and in their silence, they cured the Queen, but they could not save the child who would have been the next prince or princess of the realm. And worse, the truth was soon revealed: the Queen had never been unfaithful to the King.

It was then that the prince learned that innocence lost cannot be regained. There are stains that cannot be washed away. Not after years of repentance. Not in a whole lifetime of regret.

[bookish-nerd9]

CHAIN OF GOLD MEME: 1/3 relationships  > james herondale and cordelia carstairs

“His breathing went ragged. “Daisy… my Daisy…” “I think more people are coming,” she whispered. It wasn’t true, and they both knew it.”

[bookish-nerd9]

Every time i think oh okay I’m starting to get over this something like that happen and IT’S NOT OKAY

It begins with taking the stones away from Thanos. Tony smirks, content and proud that he outsmarted his greatest enemy. 

This enemy haunted him for years. He was buried so deep in his subconsciousness, armies he had sent to conquer Earth made Tony feel so small. He felt like he could not control his life, his destiny. The threat that he witnessed during the attack on New York was much larger than anyone could have foreseen , and he knew it. He felt it. He knew it was coming, but no one would listen. He tried to protect his planet and  its people, but none of his attempts payed off. 

In the end, there he was, looking at this monster, knowing his moment has finally come. 

“And I…” he starts saying the very words that made the living legend come to life in the public eye. The words that best described him. Creature in front of him might be inevitable, but he IS Iron Man. He controls his own faith. He is no longer afraid. He is ready. 

Power surge starts flowing through his heart, right across the chest. He pauses for a moment to gather strength for words that are supposed to come. It burns, he feels the energy passing through his whole body. 

“am”, he says breathlessly. He couldn’t have imagined that he would be in this much pain. 

He smirks for the last time, shortly, as he feels he doesn’t have much strength left. Just long enough so Thanos knows he was never good enough to beat a man like him. 

His eyes fill with tears. His pain is immense, he feels the power of the stones is tearing him apart from the inside. Every cell in his body is getting electrocuted. With devastation in his eyes, he accepts what is about to come. Losing Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey, Happy, losing his very essence and life. He is saddened that all he has overcome ends like this. But he always knew he would have a bitter end. 

“Iron Man.” the last act of defiance of great Tony Stark. Great titan being beaten by a man. An ordinary man with no superpowers. Just a mechanic with his intellect. 

He does not give up. 

Snap. 

[bookish-nerd9]

do me a solid and just reblog this saying what time it is where you are and what you’re thinking about in the tags.

[bookish-nerd9]

I will not accept this no no no no!!!! She can’t make us love him like that and then do this!!!

Thomas and Alastair theory (You will cry)

A while back Cassie posted this unidentified snippet:

with this illustration by Cassandra Jean:

I have come to the conclusion these are probably Alastair and Thomas. Alastair dies in Thomas’ arms. Thomas devastated enrolls in the Scholomance, but while in there he regrets it. Long ago, Cassandra added this to her “TLH” pinterest board, with the caption “Thomas”:

In the Ghosts of the Shadowmarket short story called “The Lost World” Livvy finds a carving on Ty’s bedroom: “I did not choose this life” with a date: 1904 (remember Chain of Gold takes place in 1903)

What do you think?

[bookish-nerd9]

Chain Of Gold Question

There’s a scene where Lucie meets Jesse in the Lightwood manor and she sees “a blond boy who looks familiar” then he vanishes.

Do we know who thatis??!! I don’t know why but this particular thing is bugging me and @cassandraclare asks are closed

[bookish-nerd9]

Can i just take a moment to say WHAT!!!! I mean seriously she gets attacked for “lack of representation” and also gets attacked for “over representation” I’m honestly confused and thoroughly pissed!!

[bookish-nerd9]

I think we need the entire AFTG books from Andrew’s POV

oh how desperately I want a retelling of aftg from drugged up Andrew’s perspective.

like imagine every time Kevin goes on tangents about exy he’s thinking like, “bitch imma need you to shut up soon or someones getting knifed” or whenever Neil jogs onto the field he’s like “oh, DAYUM. What an ass” 

i want to know what he’s thinking so bad.

[bookish-nerd9]

Okay so i think this month is really stressful for all bookworms what with Chain of Gold and Crescent City being released on THE SAME DAY and Sabaa Tahir FINALLY revealing the cover, title, and release date of An Ember in The Ashes 4 “A Sky Beyond The Storm” i mean seriously guys what are you doing to us!!!

[bookish-nerd9]

In TWO days just TWO freakin days Chain of Gold is gonna be released and I’m sooooo ready to be thrown back in this world of pain and happiness and agony and more than ready to have my heart broken to pieces and shoved down my throat!!