itsnani07

[itsnani07]

“Nico Di Angelo is a token gay! His coming out scene sucked!” babes I’m BEGGING you to remember 2013 gay characters were not allowed in children’s media.

Lemme say that again: In 2013, it was expected that gay characters would be censored in children’s mass media.

Remember Korra? How she and Asami had to settle for ambiguous handholding rather than a kiss? That was fully a year after House of Hades came out. Nickelodeon said No Gays, the Children™ can’t handle that. Too risky. And people said man that stinks, but that’s how these things go in 2014 America.

Gay marriage was literally still illegal in the vast majority of US states. As of October 8th, 2013 (House of Hades release date) Gay Marriage was only a thing in thirteen fucking states. California had only legalized it that year.

Gay people were still very much on the fringes of society. It was an acceptable political position on both sides of the aisle to be against the existence and equal rights of gay people.

Nico was legitimately a landmark character in queer representation. To my knowledge, there wasn’t before an openly gay main character in a bestselling ya/middle grade fantasy fiction series. It simply was not a thing. They didn’t exist. They weren’t allowed to exist.

I remember people crying. Finally. It was a watershed moment. Kids all across the world finally got someone who represented them. It was such a big fucking deal. And it was controversial!!! Not for the reasons it is today, but because people thought gay kids having representation was inappropriate.

Is Nico’s coming out a great scene? No, these days it leaves a lot to be desired. It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and I’m sure Rick wishes he could change it. But the fact that’s the case is a wonderful reflection of how far we’ve come.

All of your gay heroes in children’s media have Nico Di Angelo to thank. It was important, and good. It deserves to be celebrated, even if we’ve progressed past it since.

[itsnani07]

So, You Want To Write Vampires...

Here's a basic list of things to do/consider when approaching this creature.

Source Material

Go back to the origins. Almost every culture around the world has a story or myth containing cannibalism / blood drinking. You may want to base your origin story for vampires on one of these. This can also give you some ideas about what traits and abilities you might want to include that have been written out of modern fiction. It could help you add a unique twist.

2. Vampire Fiction

Vampires have been popping up in fiction for a very long time. Read The Vampyre by John Polidori (thought to be one of the first books written on vampires). Check out Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu (the lesbian vampire story that came out before Dracula). Speaking of, Dracula is a classic.

Look at modern fiction. Vampire Academy, Twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, A Dowery of Blood, Crave. Read the good and the bad. Learn what qualities you like and which you will not use.

Make a list of things you like and things you don't.

3. Themes

Writing vampires brings a lot of themes surrounding mortality, immortality, morality, and at what point do we draw the line between what is human and what is other. These themes are integral to a vampire story whether you're writing a gothic horror, a paranormal romance, or a YA. There are a lot of links between cannibalism / blood drinking and love, vampires and LGBTQIA+ characters / coding.

4.Pick your traits

Vampires tend to be unique to the writer. The vampires in Twilight work differently to the vampires in The Vampire Diaries to the vampires in Dracula.

By this point you should have a list of possible traits and abilities you might want to give your vampires. My advice: tailor it to your genre. If you're writing a horror go with the traditional vampire abilities, give them the things that scare you. Think Nosferatu. If you're writing romance, then you might want to soften the traditional vampire traits in the way you find frequently in modern vampire media.

What you choose is up to you.

5. Origins

This is often overlooked in vampire stories but how did your vampires come into being? Who was the first vampire? Is this vampire still alive? How far back do vampires go as a species?

This could affect your vampires in terms of relationships with others of their kind, their powers, their strength.

This might not impact on your plot but, in terms of worldbuilding, if you intend to turn your book into a series then this could be very important going forward.

6. Society

Unless you're writing about the first ever vampire you're probably going to be writing about an established vampire population who will have their own laws, their own history, their own leadership, their own customs. This is an important piece of worldbuilding. It will affect your characters relationships, add conflict to the plot, create established enemies and can be used to raise the stakes.

7. Nocturnal Life

If you're following a traditional burn-in-the-sun vampire and they haven't found a way around this then you need to determine the night life of your setting. What is there for your vampires to do at night?

8. Feeding, Hunting, and Bloodlust

This will affect the level of gore in your story as a lot of the bloody parts in your story will take place through feeding and hunting. This will also determine your vampire population.

You need to decide how much your vampires need to feed, how often they need to do so, and what they can feed on. Do they drink animal blood? Is that possible? Do they drink human blood? Can they drink from blood bags? Do they need the blood fresh? If they need human blood do they need all of it?

The less a vampire feeds, the larger a population you can have in one area as it attracts less attention.

What happens when your vampires are hungry? What does their bloodlust look like? How does it affect a vampire? Is the amount of bloodlust a vampire experiences determined by how old the vampire is?

9. Threats

Unless your vampires are well and truly endless there will be ways to kill them and they will have enemies. Do these enemies take the shape of humans, of other vampires, or another species entirely? How can your vampires be killed? What other species are out there?

[itsnani07]

Another day thinking about what happened to Alec's journal that appeared at the beginning of TMI What did he write in there? Did he have his little gay thoughts in there? Do you think he came back from his first kiss with Magnus and wrote in there: "Dear Diary: Oh Angel!! You won't believe what I did!! It was crazy!!!" Did he keep writing in that journal? Did he ever tell Magnus?

I bet Jace secretly read it…and probably Isabelle too

[itsnani07]

Okay I’ve rewritten the chapter I’ve written. This is the official chapter I had written on Wattpad. Hope you enjoy and feel free to drop some pointers. :)

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 

I've known all my life what the people here think about the supernatural. It's a strange concept that's wrapped up in local urban legends and folk tales that are told to scare little children and tourists.

I didn't believe in any of it. Sure, I keep the windows and blinds closed when the sun sets and throw the occasional salt over my shoulder, that's it. I wasn't superstitious, but that all changed the day my brother, Ody, found my great-grandfather's journal.

It's the summer of 1996, and I was the first one up, like always. I quietly slipped out of bed and began to get ready for my shift at Ruby's, moving through my poorly lit bedroom, which I share with my brother Matt, carefully. The floorboards would creak if you were in the wrong place, and sometimes Matt would throw his pillow at me if I woke him up before 10 o'clock.

The morning light hadn't even risen over the holler yet, and everything outside of the window was still bathed in a blueish gray hue. I looked over at my alarm clock, and it read 6:59 am. I tugged on a pair of worn-out jeans, slipped on my black non-slip shoes, and pulled on my work shirt that still smelled of grease and cigarette smoke. The shirt wasn't fancy. Just a size large maroon shirt with Ruby's Diner written in yellow letters on the back.

I tiptoed past Matt's bed, where he was still snoring softly, his left leg hanging off the side. I finally left my room, closing the door softly behind me, and headed toward the kitchen. As I started the coffee machine, I turned my attention toward the window. The sky was still that blueish gray without a cloud in the sky. The sun was still slowly rising over the hokker, and already I could hear the cicadas screaming. Just from looking out of the closed kitchen window, I could tell that it's going to be another hot and humid day. But it's always hot here in the holler, especially in the middle of June.

The coffee maker beeped, and I grabbed a chipped mug from the drying rack. I didn't notice which mug I grabbed until I began to pour the lukewarm coffee into it. I turned it over and I spotted the #1 Dad written right in the middle of the white ceramic mug. I quickly grabbed another cup, poured the coffee inside it, rinsed out the mug, and put it in the cabinet, pushing it back, way back out of reach.

I didn't need that kind of reminder. Not today.

The new mug I grabbed was a plain red mug with no writing. I took a sip of the coffee. It tasted burnt, like always, and leaned against the counter and continued to stare out, looking at the holler as the light began to warm from the blueish gray color to something that was kind of close to gold. I finished half of the coffee before setting it down on the sink with a soft clink. I grabbed my denim jacket from the hook by the back door, even though I didn't really need it past 8:00.

Stepping out on the verandah, I automatically felt the warmth of summer wrap around me like a thick and heavy weighted blanket. Dew clung onto the steps, making them a bit slippery, and the wood creaked under my weight. A pair of morning doves flew off the railing as I stepped down the steps.

'It was about a fifteen-minute walk from my place to Ruby's. That's only if I took the backwoods trail and cut through the old Bailey's place. A lot longer if I took the main road. I don't mind taking the backwoods trail. It was quiet, not many cars drove through here, and it's just me, my thoughts, the cicadas screaming, and the peaceful chirping from the birds flying by.

As I walked, the smell of honeysuckle and damp earth filled my nose. Somewhere in the distance, as I got closer to the old Bailey's place, I could hear the sounds of a dog barking and the slamming of a screen door. I finally walked past the old Bailey's place, where Old Man Bailey and a few other retired miners were sitting on his porch and drinking their beers. 

I gave them a small wave and continued on my way. 

I reached the head of the holler, just passing the rusted-out truck that hasn't moved in who knows how long. Then I walked past the Grangers. I muttered a curse under my breath. That was the downside of taking the trail. 

The Grangers (as I mentioned) lived just ahead of the holler. Their house was one of the older houses here. It was small with its once white wooden paint beginning to turn yellow, and its porch sank in the middle, and its screen door was crooked. 

And just like clockwork, Lynn Granger was sitting on her porch, sitting on that rickety old porch swing, reading. I had nothing against the Grangers; it's just that Lynn Granger was the town's designated crazy lady, and her son Rowan wasn't any better. 

I kept my head down as I quickly walked past the Granger's place, praying that I didn't accidentally catch Lynn's attention. Yesterday, when I caught her eye, completely by accident, I may add, she shoved a potted fern in my hand and had a manic look in her blue eyes. She said something about how it'll protect me and to put it on my windowsill. I just took it and quickly walked past their house. As soon as I got to Ruby's, I threw it out. 

Unfortunately, the universe must have had it out for me because, as soon as I turned past a thicket of wild strawberries when I nearly ran headfirst into Rowan Granger. 

He was around the same age as Matt, maybe a year younger than him. He was a lanky white boy with fair skin and strawberry blond hair that curled around his slightly pointed ears and high cheekbones. He has these intense green eyes that make me feel uncomfortable whenever I look into them, and he has freckles splashed across his nose. 

He was wearing an old-looking baggy Rolling Stones T-shirt, baggy jeans that were caked with either mud or soil at the knees, and the hems were frayed. He was even barefoot, his feet were also caked in mud or soil. 

"Hello, Tiresias," He said. 

I cringed at the sound of my full name. There are very few people who would call me Tiresias, some of whom were my teachers when I was in school, and my late parents whenever I was in trouble. Other than that, everyone just called meTy, but for some reason, Rowan likes to call my brothers and me by our full names. 

"Oh, hey, Rowan," I replied awkwardly. 

He didn't respond right away. He just stared at me with that faraway gaze that he always has, the morning sun making the green in his eyes look more intense. 

"You're up so early,"  he said finally, his big toe digging into the trail. 

"Yeah, mornin' shift at Ruby's," I said as I gestured down the trail. Maybe if I'm lucky, I could slowly back away from him and book it before he could even notice that I was gone. But, there's a weird rumor that Rowan could run faster barefoot. So, I'm pretty much stuck entertaining him. 

"You oughta be careful taking the trail this early in the mornin'," He said. 

"Especially around this time of year." 

And here comes the weird cryptic shit. 

"Because it's tick season?" I asked, hoping that I was right. But the universe truly hates me, because he said something that kind of shook me to my core. He leaned in a little, his green eyes looking more intense in the morning sun. 

"No, because it's coming," 

Coming? What was? He didn't care to elaborate. Instead, he just gave me a cryptic smile and was on his way back home. 

"See you around, Tiresias." 

I didn't move until I was sure he was out of my line of sight, and even then, I kept looking over my shoulder, half expecting to find someone or something following me. I continued to move past the last part of their property, but I still had that suspicion that I was being watched. I quickened my pace, but thankfully, Ruby's wasn't far from here. 

By the time I stepped onto the gravel lot behind Ruby's, the sun had finally made its full appearance. It poured its golden rays over the metal roof, making it shine like it was new; it was almost blinding. 

I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans and took one last breath of the warming morning air before heading inside. The bell above jingled as I entered, and there was Ruby, who was already behind the counter, counting down the till. Ruby is around the same age my parents would've been. She has the same dark skin as I do, and she always kept her coily hair tied back with a pink scarf. 

She looked up and gave me a quick nod. 

"Mornin', sugar," She greeted, not looking up from the till. 

"You're here early," 

"Always am," I replied, moving past the counter and into the back to clock in. 

And just like that, the day began.

[itsnani07]

[itsnani07]

So, this is what I’ve been working on. Any tips on how to polish it better or any grammar corrections?:

Virginia, July 1996

The summers here in the holler were always thick and oppressive. As soon as Ty Deveraux stepped onto the porch, the morning heat and humidity began to stick to him like a second skin. It was barely 7:30 in the morning, and already, Ty was sweating, but he didn't mind. Early mornings here in the holler were always peaceful and quiet. The sounds of cicadas were loud, but oddly comforting, and the cooing from the morning doves that made their nests in the nearby trees always brought Ty at ease.

These were the moments that he enjoyed. Quiet. Calm. Not hearing the sounds of his brother's arguing or the constant snap of customers calling to get his attention whenever their order was wrong.

He went through the pockets of his jeans and pulled out a packet of Marlboros and matches. He lit one with a slow, quick drag across the matchbox, the tiny flame flickering in the morning light, the smoke curled into the air. Ty leaned against the porch railing, letting his elbows rest on the warming wood.

Somewhere down the road, a dog barked once and then went quiet.

He figured Aaron was probably curled up, still asleep, at his desk again; his head resting on top of his sketchbook as usual. Matt might’ve passed out on the couch again after partying with his band or wherever the hell he wanders off to at night. Ody—well, Ody never really slept right to begin with. The kid had been talking in his sleep again, muttering and whispering weird things that Ty couldn’t make out.

It wasn’t the first time he had talked about weird things in his sleep. When he was four, he used to mumble about the tall man in the woods. Ty, as well as their late parents, used to chalk it up to Ody being a strange kid and…yeah, Ody is an odd kid. Sensitive and intelligent for his own good.

Just the other night, after Ty came home from a graveyard shift from Ruby’s, he overheard Ody muttering in his sleep again. Something about roots, mouths, and music. What that boy dreams about, Ty wouldn’t know. It’s best not to try to ponder what goes on inside that kid’s head.

He flicked the ash off the end of the cigarette, watching it fall between the porch slats. He took another drag of his half-finished cigarette when his wristwatch began to beep. He checked his watch and groaned.

8:30 am.

He'd better get ready now if he doesn’t want to be late. Again.

He stubbed the rest of the cigarette on the porch railing and flicked the bud into the yard. If Momma were still alive, she’d have a fit. Not only did her precious baby boy picked up the habit of smoking when he was fourteen, but left the bud in the grass. He made a mental note to mow it sometime this weekend. Not that he had the time anyway. With his double shifts at Ruby’s and keeping his brothers from killing each other, there isn’t just enough time in the day.

He smiled to himself as he began to think about how his mother would react. She would’ve yelled about how it could’ve started a fire and burned the house down. Even worse, it’ll destroy her cluster of zinnias. She would’ve clucked her tongue and placed her hands on her hips before giving the look that most black southern mothers give.

Dad, on the other hand, would’ve brushed it off. Claimed that it wasn’t a big deal and that she was overreacting. But, he wouldn’t say it in front of her; he was bold, but not that bold. He would’ve pretended to scold him in front of her and then offered a better way to hide his smoking habit, telling him which brands were the smooths and how to hide the smell of smoke.

A small, sad smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and then faded once he realized what today was.

July 10.

Ten years today. A full decade since they’d died.

Nope. Can’t think about it, not today.

He opened the screen door, the hinges groaning, and he stepped back inside. Inside the house, it always smells like old wood, spice, and Aaron’s acrylic and oil paints. The morning light peeked through the kitchen windows, the dust motes swirling around in the light. The ceiling fan in the living room wobbled slightly as it spun, pushing out more heat than cool air. Matt most likely put it on the highest setting.

Speaking of Matt, Ty found his brother sprawled out on the couch, his long legs hanging over the couch’s arms. One arm was draped over his face to block out the light, and the other hung off the side. The living room reeked faintly of stale weed, sweat, beer, and whatever godawful cheap cologne Matt had on. An empty bag of chips and crumpled-up candy wrappers littered around where he was sleeping. His Doc Martens were tossed near the door, and his beat-up Walkman was tangled up in his headphone wires.

Ty shook his head.

“Matt,” He called, whispering his name.

“Matt.” He said again.

God, he hoped that he wasn’t hungover. Once Matt’s hungover, it’s hard to wake him up. Ty shook Matt’s shoulder.

“Matthew!” He said a little louder.

Matt groaned and swatted Ty’s hand away.

“I’m up, damn,” he mumbled, his voice still thick with sleep.

“I’m working a double tonight, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m putting you in charge.”

Matt narrowed his eyes, giving Ty a skeptical look.

“Why?”

“I’ve already told you, I’m working a double today and Aaron has his art group at 4,” Ty explained, trying to hide his growing frustration in his voice.

Matt swung his legs off the couch and planted his feet on the floor, making Ty’s nose scrunch up at the smell of stale weed.

“Just make sure you don’t burn the house down and keep an eye on Ody for me,”

Matt began to stretch, the hem of his gray shirt riding up.

“Can’t the bands coming over later,”

Ty sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. God, why does Matt always gotta make things so difficult?

“Just watch him, please? You don’t gotta do much, just pop your head in now and then.”

Matt exhaled like it was the hardest thing he’d ever been asked to do, which to him, it probably was. Ty was starting to regret asking Matt to be in charge. He was debating on waking Aaron up and asking him to miss at least one meeting with his art group. Knowing Aaron, he’d rather die than miss his weekly group meetings.

“Fine,” Matt sighed.

Ty let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, seriously,”

“Yeah. Yeah, let me go back to sleeping off my hangover.”

Matt flopped back onto the couch and went back into his sleeping position. Ty made his way into the hallway and stopped at Aaron and Ody’s room door. The door was ajar, and Ty quietly pushed the door open with his foot.

He found Aaron hunched over his sketchbook, sitting under the window for light. His bed was made neatly, and he was still wearing his clothes from the night before.

“I’ll swing around 3:30 to pick you up, be ready.”

Aaron nodded as he continued sketching away in his sketchbook, the sounds of his pencil moving softly across the paper. Ty nodded in agreement and paused by the doorway, watching Ody’s chest rise and fall as he slept. Good. He’s okay. With one last glance, Ty closed the door gently, careful not to wake him up and ruin Aaron’s focus.

[itsnani07]

So I have a problem. I want to get back into writing again and I’m currently writing my first chapter but I’m stuck. Is there any advice that could help? I’m feeling pretty discouraged and I really need a second or third person’s opinion.

[itsnani07]

Magnus Bane, gorgeous as always but in pain, in 2x13…

[itsnani07]

If I had to associate an Epic song with a PJO character I'd 100% say that The Underworld IS Nico di Angelo's song (putting aside the part where Odysseus talks to his comrades)

"All I hear are screams everytime I dare to close my eyes I no longer dream, only nightmares of those who died" this is how I imagine Nico felt when he first unlocked his powers and learned that he could talk to the deads, see them and hear all their pain and sufferings

"I keep thinking of the infant from that night" re-elaborated as Nico thinking about the moment Percy told him that Bianca was dead

The part where Polites sings is Nico meeting Bianca's ghost one last time, her telling him to not hold grudges ("Greet the world with open arms")

AND THEN- "Waiting" "That voice... it can't be" "Waiting" "Mom?" "Waiting, Odysseus when you come home I'll be waiting, even if you're the last thing I see" "I'm right here mom, can't you see? I'm waiting. I took too long" is when Hades shows Nico his past, the day his mother died, him wanting to talk to her ghost, but he can't anymore... (this applies to Bianca's ghost when she chooses to reincarnate).

And "Bye mom" is Nico accepting the fact that both Bianca and his mother are dead, he comes to terms with his past, his memory that has been erased, his powers, he gets used to all of this.

And then there's the final desperate "ALL I HEAR ARE SCREAMS EVERYTIME I DARE TO CLOSE MY EYES, I NO LONGER DREAM ONLY NIGHTMARES OF THOSE WHO DIED, NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS BUT IN THE UNDERWORLD YOUR PAST IS ALWAYS CLOSE BEHIND, DOWN IN THE UNDERWORLD" is actually Nico DURING and AFTER being pulled into Tartarus. Eveything is amplified, what he sees and hears goes beyond what even he, a son of Hades, was used to. And he will never recover yey

[itsnani07]

It’s not even funny how relatable this is.

[itsnani07]

Oh Maryse Trueblood I need to study you. The fact that Jace uses the phrase "has to believe," implying that this faith is forced. Maryse doesn't have any option besides trusting the Clave 100%; she can no longer admit to their flaws because she doesn't trust herself to make moral judgements anymore. She followed what she thought was right as a teenager and it led to attempting genocide, so as an adult she places her faith in the Clave to make those moral decisions for her. It's basically the same reasoning that Robert had for trusting Valentine when they were young! They both did something they saw as morally inexcusable and responded by handing over their decision making to someone else who they trusted to make the right call. This shows how a person can change their moral ideals without changing their underlying framework for understanding the world. Maryse is objectively doing better things that she used to, but she never fully unpacked what made those decisions harmful in the first place, so she's still following the Clave with the same blind faith she once gave Valentine. She learned the lesson that questioning the Clave is bad, but questioning the Clave was never the thing that made Valentine evil.

[itsnani07]

Have you read the first chapter of tsats?

ya know how nico likes the grey sisters and gets rides in their taxi alot

Am I the only one who thinks the grey sisters would teach nico how to drive?

And that he's just as reckles as them?

Am I the only one who thinks one day nico has to drive a car and will is in the passenger seat and kayla and Austin are sat in the back,

And it teh apollo kids all hate it

And nicos just driving on the wrong side of the rode and nearly killing them all constantly but he's totally chill?

Am I the only one who likes that !?!?!

Am i

[itsnani07]

Look, I think there is a lot of evidence that Nico is right about how people perceive him at CHB and I think there is a lot of fair criticism about Will’s comment that no one tried to push him out BUT I also think there is something funny (sad) about picturing Nico as Goob from “Meet The Robinsons”

[itsnani07]

you CAN'T tell me that everyone did NOT have a crush on will solace at some point. he has warm blue eyes, golden blond curls. he's tall and athletic, has a bronze tan, and SUPER strong. he has a super sweet personality, and is a HEALER. literally half of the aphrodites cabin swarmed around jason when he arrived. will supposedly have similar features, so HE must have been super popular when he arrived

nico di angelo should have his sword ready...

[itsnani07]

you CAN'T tell me that everyone did NOT have a crush on will solace at some point. he has warm blue eyes, golden blond curls. he's tall and athletic, has a bronze tan, and SUPER strong. he has a super sweet personality, and is a HEALER. literally half of the aphrodites cabin swarmed around jason when he arrived. will supposedly have similar features, so HE must have been super popular when he arrived

nico di angelo should have his sword ready...

[itsnani07]

idc who you are but i think erasing canon queer characters sexuality is weird.

like why are we erasing nico di angelo’s canon sexuality by shipping him with women? he’s canonically gay. i don’t care if you don’t like solangelo but shipping him with women is fucking weird as hell. he’s gay. he only likes men.

same with will solace. he’s canonically bisexual. he is not just gay. i know some people use “gay” as in referring to all sexualities but when you are calling gay as in he only likes men, is weird.

and people also people give piper different sexualities when she is unlabeled. she is just queer and honestly we don’t see very many canon unlabeled queer characters. i think her sexuality being unlabeled is important. because we just don’t really see that in media. so don’t hc her as a lesbian or bisexual or anything like that bc she is unlabeled.

will is bisexual. nico is gay. and piper is unlabeled. like please stop erasing their sexualities

(tho for will and piper i give some pass if the fic/post came out before tsats so their sexualities weren’t confirmed. but anything after, i will call you weird)

[itsnani07]

I've said this before and I'll say it again but it is so so so important to me that we got a character like Robert Lightwood. idk about you guys but where I grew up, the idea that an adult ー a parent ー would ever own up to their mistakes to their own child is completely unfathomable.

but we've got Robert explicitly recognizing the harm he inflicted. he apologizes to Alec and also acknowledges that that in itself is not enough. so from that point onwards we see him actively trying to be better and work on their relationship. it doesn't excuse anything, obviously, but it helps Alec and Magnus process and move past what happened. they talk. they start communicating better. it opens up willingness on both sides to make efforts. it helps Alec let go of his anger so he can start approaching his father from a place of forgiveness instead. they could have gotten completely estranged from each other after Alec moved out, but Alec found it within himself to continue to allow Robert into his and Magnus' life.

so yeah. Robert is not perfect. he made a lot of mistakes. but he swallows his pride and tries. I think that is so fucking powerful.