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#anti matthew fairchild
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whyy?? it’s not your situation to discuss??
genuinely hope Anna and Matthew’s gossipy nature isn’t rubbing off on her because this was so random…
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i love you Cordelia but this was not your place :(
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bemtevis · 1 year
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Anna literally breaks girls hearts FOR FUN, like she enjoys it and she enjoys hurting them
i don’t understand how her making girls (some that read as very vulnerable) feel absolutely heartbroken makes her a fun, haha so sexy character, while what alastair did—a decade ago—makes him irredeemable and a monster
if they are angrier at alastair because he’s a carstairs and they had higher expectations for him, shouldnt they be furious at anna because she a lightwood? like the reasoning makes NO SENSE
for real! the double standard is ridiculous
she is actively mean for no reason. the difference is that she's hurting random girls we know nothing about + kamala, whose only purpose is to be anna's love interest, while alastair hurt our perfect main boys. it's all about the framing; I'm not sure how deliberate it is on cc's part, but she seems determined not to show him any sympathy whatsoever.
matthew is the one who suggested james dump cordelia right before their wedding. matthew is going around paris letting everyone think cordelia is his mistress. matthew talks about eugenia getting 'ruined' by augustus like it's nothing. I don't think it's a big stretch to say he doesn't respect women, in the sense that their reputation doesn't mean all that much to him. so why should he care that anna is ruining other women's? and if matthew doesn't care, why should anyone, really?
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“‘James,’ Matthew said. His voice shook. ‘You didn’t want her.’”
Maybe she doesn’t want either of you-
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themuseoftheviolets · 8 months
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i’m curious to know if u have any characters that u hate from the shadowhunter world and who they may be?
or just in general the characters u hate the most
oh do i. ok so. this pains me to say because when i started the last hours i thought i was going to love matthew and anna
but i absolutely hate them
matthew mostly. and mostly because of the hypocrisy when it comes to him and alastair
first of i love alastair. he's my baby
the thing with them is that matthew has done stuff that is just as bad or even worse than what alastair has, but unlike alastair who regreats, takes responsibility, and apologizes and grows as a person matthew doesn't. and he keeps on blaming alastair for it and being awful to him and i hate it
also alastair became a bully in the academy so he would stop being bullied. the way he was treated because he's poc was awful. meanwhile matthew was a bully in the academy just because he didn't want to be there
as for anna. i hate the way her story with ari goes
i get that she was upset ari was going to go through with marrying charles but that's very understandable? not everyone has supportive parents like anna. and i just hate the way anna treats her and women in general
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4uru · 1 year
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Sooo im on the intermission grief chapter... Have not read it yet, i physically cant... Anyway, im probably quitting reading anything from cc, she causes me pain anger and frustration over fucking nothing.
Nothing gets solved, not in a satisfactory way atleast, shitty traits of shitty characters are brushed under the rug,
Matthew inserting himself in cordelias bussiness with her own fucking brother after her father GETS MURDERED in choi, and its never addressed again. Yall he made cordelia feel guilty about loving her own brother who sacrificed his childhood for her. I do feel bad for Matthew's alcoholism, but damn yall he was a little shit before that.
Elias dying without and being absolutely useless as a ghost. And us not getting any of Alastairs sass+angst about this dead beat asshole. Like c'mon yall.
Anna, she is problematic herself lets not even get into that, all her shitty qualities are in that one chair u have in the corner of ur room, which u've thrown a huge blanket over bc the guests are coming. I need a whole separate post for this asshole. (Opinions from the pov of a brown person)
Charles, just bc hes gay doesnt mean i need to feel bad for him, hes a fucking pedo and can choke on his own spit and die a painful death. The scene where alastair Matthew and Thomas chew him out is not nearly long enough or cathartic enough... TLH fanfic community, yall better not let me down too, i need this bestie pls.
I love thomas in this book but come on, i feel like he needs to at least confront Alastair about what Alastair went thru during the academy era. The sanctuary scene sucked yall, but now we got the carriage scene so i hope yall can get ur head out of the "thirsty for content bucket" long enough to face that fact.
Christopher "THATS MY SON😭😭😭MY BOY😭😭😭" cc, with all due disrespect, fuck you. this one? This one fucking hurt. I hope u step into a small puddle of water on the floor with ur socks on for the rest of ur life.
Happy for jordelia, i need the 3 mentally unstable brother in laws ( james, Alastair, jesse) bonding
[P.s. sorry if i offend anybody, i am writting this with a headache, blocked nose and a broken annoyed heart]
To me cc is a racist ass, homophobic, transphobic person and it it clear she doesnt know how to write characters of color, or characters who arent cishet. And heavily believes on the miracles of 💖Coming out💖.
-sincerely a desi gay enby teen posting from a country where i could get jailed for existing <3
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Not liking Cordelia when Alastair loves his sister to death and she loves him just as much which is obvious? Petty red flag
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA OKAY
Alr wanna play this game????
“that was so kind, Matthew” - Cordelia after Matthew literally used her to manipulate Alastair into seeing charles
“you must think I’m so terrible for still loving him” - after Matthew literally eavesdropped on a private convo between them and decided to trauma dump on her
Cordelia turning a blind eye when Matthew says anything about Alastair except that one time he accused Alastair of being a killer
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adowryofblood · 1 year
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Throughout Cast Long Shadows Matthew keeps complaining about Thomas defending Alastair but I would just like to remind him that Thomas spent the entirety of Nothing But Shadows doing the same for Matthew.
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Matthew literally insults everyone at the Academy from the beginning and literally doesn't have a single kind thing to say to or about anyone other than Christopher and Thomas, and that's apparently fine because he doesn't to be there, but when Alastair does it it's unforgivable?
Matthew insults the Academy and everyone in it so much that the teachers start calling in sick so they don't have to deal with him, and I'm supposed to like him? Listen, I get that he doesn't want to be there, I understand that and I understand his reasons for not wanting to be there, but that's not an excuse to be an asshole to people who've never done anything to him. And I'm not saying that what Alastair said and did was okay, but at least Alastair changes, he admits that he was wrong, he tries to do better. The things that Alastair says and does are never treated as okay by the narrative or by other characters. Everyone, including Alastair himself, admits that it was wrong. The same cannot be said for Matthew.
Also, Alastair became a bully so he wouldn't be bullied himself. Meanwhile it's clearly stated that everyone loves Matthew, no one was going to bully him. He's one of the most privileged people at the Academy to the point where no one other than Ragnor reprimands him for his behavior and he always gets away with everything he does until he blows up the south wing. He wasn't being a dick to protect himself like Alastair was.
Matthew is never punished by the narrative or other characters for what he's done, he never admits what he did and said at the Academy was wrong, he never changes.
Matthew is just as much of a bully as Alastair (actually even more of a bully since he's still bullying Alastair), but without any sort of acknowledgment of his actions.
All this is to say that the only way I'll accept a scene of Alastair apologizing to Matthew is if Matthew apologizes to Alastair as well.
(Oh and they are not allowed to be friends. Fuck that. Matthew spends years bullying Alastair and making his life hell way after they leave the Academy, he does not deserve to be his friend. They can be civil to each other because they'll always be in each other's lives thanks to the people they love, but they should not be friends.)
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cabbagesandkings · 2 years
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ANTI FAIRSTAIRS
I believe Jordelia will be Endgame. I do not expect anything to happen between Matthew and Cordelia, but there is one scenario I could see playing out. Picking up where coi left off, Daisy is absolutely heartbroken. She thinks that James is in love with Grace, and therefore they have no future together. She doesn’t think she’ll ever get what she really wants, so she considers settling for good enough. (I mean absolutely no offense to Matthew.) She likes Matthew as a person, so she thinks that if she can’t have the love of her life, then maybe she can be happy with a nice boy who loves her. I imagine that most of Daisy’s POVs would be her trying to convince herself that she likes Matthew and to forget about James. To test her theory, I can see Daisy going as far as to kiss Matthew. But, I think that one kiss is as far as it will go. Daisy will kiss him, but it won’t feel right. She’ll immediately realize that she ONLY loves James, and then she’ll apologize and tell Matthew that she can’t do this.
If this plays out like this, I think that chances are James will see that kiss, and then he’ll be heartbroken. He’ll assume Daisy and Matthew are together, so he won’t tell Daisy how he feels because he doesn’t want to ruin their relationship, leading to more drama.
(Yes, I realize this would be kind of a dick move on Daisy’s part but so was convincing a heartbroken girl to run away with you without giving her time to think but in her defense, she is hurting and also a teenager, and sometimes teenagers are dumb.)
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imagine thinking people hate Grace Blackthorn for only “getting in the way“ of Jordelia and not the part where the “in the way” comes from mind control
imagine thinking people hate Matthew Fairchild for only “getting in the way“ of Jordelia and not the part where he is a bully and truth serum
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spacehero-23 · 2 months
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I know I always shit on Grace because of the SA scenes. But can talk about Cassandra Clare being a little FREAK for actually writing them?
Because those scenes have NO reason for existing. Why is Grace kissing James if he's already under her control? And we have to read not one, but THREE separate scenes of him being SAed? For what? What was the reason Cassie?
And the Matthew one!? She has Grace force him to kiss her, threaten to tell people that HE was the one who SA her! And then she makes him forget and it's never mentioned again. So it's not like it was important to the plot. Clare was just a freak who decided to include FOUR SA scenes in her YA series, apparently for shits and giggles!
At least when Sebastian did it in TMI it was obvious that we're meant hate him for it, and be disgusted. At least in those books it was treated with some respect. But in TLH? She gives the person who did it a redemption arc and doesn't even have the balls to write a proper confrontation or an apology.
I have A LOT of issues with Cassie but this one takes the cake.
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lightstairs1902 · 2 years
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Kermit the frog as Tlh characters
Alastair and Thomas in the sanctuary:
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Alastair after the sanctuary scene 😭:
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Matthew Fairchild in two pics:
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Anna Lightwood:
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Probably Christopher if Thomas wasn't the mom of the group:
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James after he saw Cordelia and Matthew in the train:
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Jesse chilling in his coffin:
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Charles after reading Alastair's "break up" letter:
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ladyhindsight · 10 months
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So, God definitely exists and Lilith is having her own fashion show whenever she appears. That’s cool. Anyway. It has taken ages to even summon any will power to finish the book, the whole year so far has been personal chaos, but now as the storm has ceased and I had couple days off to just lay down on my sofa to power through this monstrosity, all I am left with is a major what the fuck. Expectations were close to zero and Chain of Thorns still went right under it.
Just minutes before I finally finished Chain of Thorns and I don’t even know what it all was for. The major things holding this story together is everyone’s damn pride and fear of being pitied—obstacles which all of them have to overcome. James and Cordelia are both too proud to be pitied, but narrative-wise there is this perpetual pity party going on. All this ruminating over Things That Never Were and Stuff That Is Forever out of Reach is just whole lot of words for whole lot of nothing, especially when the ending to their relationship is nothing if not predictable. The purple prose doesn’t make me feel anything, doesn’t resonate with me on any level, and I can’t connect to it because in the grand scheme of the story, it is based on false perception created by the unwillingness to be truthful. In the end, all that angst and wondering about the feelings at every turn, it is a waste of time.
Every character is so driven by their self-loathing, seriously bordering on self-pity, and pride that all their motivations blur into the same mess. The unwillingness to be truthful, powered by the pride of each character, is the force for which the plot can even reach the points it wants. Clare truly is a master of creating this endless but absolutely done-to-death emotional circle she just keeps recycling in every trilogy she manages to publish. Writing is the same as ever, dialogue is a pathway to always just tell things, it’s also hand-holding and over-bearing: “It seems the Inquisitor has hurt his right arm.” “He was branded on his arm by Belial.” “So that’s why he was holding it like it hurt!” No shit?! Stop it. On a positive note, I think the series is more emotionally aware and intelligent compared to The Mortal Instruments and even The Infernal Devices, where the emotional awareness only encompassed Clary, Jace, Will, Jem, and Tessa. Not completely without its grievances, but when are these books ever?
The plot served its purpose, I guess. Cordelia becoming a paladin of Lilith served its role in saving James and defeating Belial. Others had their own stories and relationships but were helpful and sometimes integral for the story to progress. It’d be otherwise fine if the book didn’t forget the actual plot for a major part of its duration and exchanged it for useless inter-character dramatics and constant cliffhangers. Additionally, it’s just that the whole Watcher thing (like the Grigori?) was clear from miles away. Whenever Clare introduces a new but a very basic element to the Shadowhunter world THAT SHOULD HAVE EXISTED ALREADY and explains it through a character (this time Cordelia), it’s a dead giveaway. So the tease They wake + the Iron Tombs = waiting two thirds of the book for the characters to catch up with you. The story is so infected with repetitive narrative, drama and self-loathing, pseudo-profound ponderings on love and pride, and I am sick of even thinking about any of it.
Maybe one day I have something else to say about the book in general, but not today. My brain has once again been obliterated. So, as usual, some thoughts and notes and more in-depth grievances:
CORDELIA CARSTAIRS AND JAMES HERONDALE. They come together, because I have no coherent thoughts about James or Cordelia. They were there and did their protagonist duties. Of course there was a love triangle. Blah, blah. I just didn’t like Cordelia in this installment as much as the previous ones. Maybe her pride took so much center stage that her previous kindness and compassion were overshadowed by it and self-righteousness. Her bravery is no longer bravery but same thoughtlessness of every other Clare heroine. James was there, hoorah. No, but seriously. James’ trauma was so in-depth analyzed and told, his feeling of pain and anguish and anger relished in so much that the writing was incapable of coming up with anything new to say instead of regurgitating same things over and over again. Also, Cordelia was constantly aware of James’ bracelet when he wore it, but never mentioned it once he stopped wearing it for good?
THOMAS LIGHTWOOD AND ALASTAIR CARSTAIRS. They worked out, yay. Don’t know why they love each other, but okay. Their romance was a nice and carrying force through some bleak scenes in the book. Alastair becoming more open and comfortable in showing affection was lovely. Turned out great.
ANNA LIGHTWOOD AND ARI BRIDGESTOCK. See the above. Same sentiments. But much like with Thomas and Alastair, most of the development happened in this final instalment and pretty hastily too. And like the above pair, I feel like a lot of the progress came with transforming the characters into unrecognizable version of themselves too quickly. I was happy that Ari was able to connect with her mother again and Flora could flourish (lol) without the stifling presence of her husband, but I also feel like I’ve seen this setting where a bad and homophobic husband and father gets a metaphorical kick to his ass and goes away in order for the life to be better for his family without him.
LUCIE HERONDALE. Lucie was generally great. No hard feelings. It’s a bit contrived that it is precisely the canoodling of Jesse that brings her closer to the dead, but whatever. Love that her weapon of choice is an ax.
MATTHEW FAIRCHILD. Matthew’s story ends on a somber note. While Matthew definitely was not one of my favorite characters, I hoped he could’ve had something more to him than James and Cordelia. His journey to sobriety continues, which was great that it wasn’t over just like that, but the reason for his drinking was such a huge thing that was carried throughout the books, so it was disappointing to see it quickly addressed in the epilogue. Matthew deserved more than a hasty redemption in the end.
CHARLES FAIRCHILD. There are other people that are dying, Charles!! is what I am left with. I am absolutely aghast how Charles’ character was treated. I can’t believe that Clare still managed to write one more let’s push this character out of the closet because it is The Right Thing to Do scenario in her books. Charles has to brave the world and lose what he has to lose because his dreams and aspirations, according to the narrative, are worth nothing because he is more privileged than other people. Charles coming out with his sexuality is set against the choice of standing with or against his family as if there was no other way to solve this but guilt Charles into doing the right thing so he can’t be blackmailed anymore. Nobody cares, your family loves you—then what are the stakes here then, in their homophobic society that time and time again fails to deliver any consequence while existing as this ostracizing boogeyman?
I hoped there was some sort of ploy that Charles intended to execute in order to remove the thorn from his mother’s side and replace the Inquisitor with someone who was more fair and just and capable. At once, when Tessa said that Charles is just misguided, I knew it wouldn’t be because Tessa is never wrong. So all there is this dumb blackmailing plot whose only merit is to have Maurice Bridgestock removed from his position as Inquisitor. It did not serve Charles’ character in any way nor were his story with his family or Matthew in any way concluded.
GRACE BLACKTHORN. While discussing Grace, Christopher says that Grace was just a child when she was forced to act on James. Thomas says it doesn’t matter with anger and fury. Matthew equates Grace’s actions to a murder, as you do. While Will’s actions against Tatiana are in no way comparable to Grace’s, it is strange how Will being twelve is mentioned as if in order to act as an extenuating circumstance, while this doesn’t apply to Grace. It is also weird how everyone else’s torment is mulled over, used as an excuse for some type of behavior, but Grace's abuse and manipulation at the hands of Tatiana and Belial isn’t taken into consideration by anyone else than Jem? Also why did Cordelia get to vanquish Tatiana and not Grace? Grace’s treatment in this book, along with Charles, was just painful.
JESSE BLACKTHORN. Much like James, he is a stale piece of wheat bread. Only thing I have in mind about Jesse is that I found it a bit over the top, out of the little character he had, that he was so angry at Grace so that he left her. Jesse reacted exactly the way I feared Cordelia would react to Alastair. I was hoping for angry but sad and disappointed approach since Jesse knew better than anyone what Grace has lived through. Also, why Jesse (or Grace) wasn’t given time with his uncles who had wanted to get to know him for ages?
CHRISTOPHER LIGHTWOOD. My sweet cheese, my goodtime boy. Characters Clare writes most often only know the strongest of emotions. They always react with anger, defensiveness, and passion; by shouting, by self-righteous fury, by everything that is so exhausting to always read. Most of the characters are that, and am I so happy how Clare stayed true to Christopher’s temperate and serene nature, even when his cousin/best friend has been greatly wronged. And when everyone was so angry at Grace, Christopher was the only one to see reason. So, WHY THE FUCK HE DIED? No one, but most of all Cordelia herself never acknowledge that Kit died protecting her.
The “false” family tree lead the story on how Kit and Grace would probably become a couple, and would’ve made sense since they bonded over science and their minds were alike while they were so unalike in other ways, but boom. Kit dies, and Grace is left to figure out the fire messages on her own, because otherwise there wouldn’t be that obstacle of not being able to reach the Shadowhunters in Idris. Kit died for a shock value and so that a measly little plot point could work. Also great how the Lightwoods always have their children killed?? We never even see Gabriel and Cecily mourning?? Eugenia was weirdly chipper after just losing another one of her family members?? All these pages dedicated to romance bullshit that will solve itself but not for this.
TATIANA BLACKTHORN. Tatiana is a fiend, a terrible demon-worshipping, toddler-kidnapping fiend, but also a cartoonish one at that. It’s just overdone. She was made uglier and uglier, the machinator of evil things, and then she died. Voilà. There is one narrative aspect that was weird though. The Herondales and the Lightwoods insist on having tried their all to help Tatiana who always refused, but when Jesse confronts his mother, he says:
“I have come to know them by now. There is truth much harsher. One I think you know. They have not tried to ruin you over all these years. They have not plotted your downfall. They have barely even thought of you at all.”
Sick burn, but which is it? Adamantly trying to help her or not thinking about her at all?
MAURICE BRIDGESTOCK. A cartoon character with a cartoon ending. A homophobe bigot who got what he deserved, but a cartoonish character still. He was jealous of the Herondales and thus was an antagonist. Why is everyone obsessed with the Herondales in every damn book?
ESME HARDCASTLE. Esme was shoved in there in order to explain the “found family tree”, which at some point, I have no doubt, was how things were supposed to be, until Clare had more ideas for the Edwardian kids. No other characters in whole of TSC have gone through so many changes as these characters have. And as such, to keep the predictability at minimum—which isn’t a lot—the old family tree is made up by Esme, so Clare can spin this tale why it wasn’t accurate. Grace didn’t marry Christopher, Alastair didn’t have children (probably?). Then Clare had all these surprise babies coming because the way she chose to end the story for the Edwardian kids would mean no Emma, no Clary as we know them. So new Carstairs baby, new Fairchild twins.
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i. The beginning of the prologue is over-saturated with flowery prose and similes that the narrative gets buried underneath.
ii. James is worried about Lucie, but more importantly needs to find her so he can go back to worrying about Cordelia and Matthew.
iii. The whole series has been a barrage of period typical social etiquette and decorum fed to you with a spoon. Even The Infernal Devices wasn’t this intent on it. Men did not usually accompany even wives or sisters into a dressmakers shop. What do you care about mundane decorum, you are Shadowhunters! Have some etiquette of your own.
iv. “…one of the modistes attacked the closures at the back of Cordelia’s dress without requiring any instruction—clearly she had done this before—and pushed and pulled at Cordelia as if she was a stuffed mannequin.” CcLeEaRrLy. You just told she didn’t need instruction, the rest is rather obvious. And I hope she knew what she was doing, she works there!!
v. Then there is this ridiculously complicated sentence: “Madame Beausoleil, who kept her salon on the Rue de la Paix, where the most famous dressmakers in the world—the House of Worth, Jeanne Paquin—were situated, was, according to Matthew, well acquainted with the Shadow World.” Like, what. Honey. Darling. “Madame Beausoleil kept her salon on the Rue de la Paix, where the most famous dressmakers in the world—the House of Worth, Jeanne Paquin—were situated. She was, according to Matthew, well acquainted with the Shadow World.” Or does that info about the location have to be there at all? Surely there were plenty other paragraphs where you could’ve stuffed that.
vi. Apparently this, apparently that, apparently everything! Whenever Clare uses such a word, it is a sign that she is unnecessarily feeling the need to justify why she is giving some particular piece of information or why a character is making an observation they could realistically make.
vii. Cordelia’s savings to pay Matthew for the dresses? What savings? From what and where?
viii. There are so many parentheses explaining things
ix. There is not a one scene in Paris where Cordelia doesn’t think how other people might see her and Matthew as a couple. Every time, which is in basically every scene they have in public, someone watches them and admires them and their “young love.”
x. “I have never heard anyone sound as if they were in such pain. Jamie, you must talk to us.” Yes, no one has ever been in greater pain than James Herondale, and that has the stamp of approval of Will Herondale so it really means something.
xi. a lot of the gray is gunmetal gray
xii. Having Tatiana comment on Jem’s appearance as Silent Brother and call it privilege for knowing the Lightwoods and Herondales doesn’t take away the fact that it is awfully convenient that Jem isn’t bald or his face isn’t sown shut. Though I get the intent behind this was to elicit such reaction as how awful of Tatiana! She doesn’t know anything Jem has suffered! It was not his choice! and the like. Blah.
xiii. What is it with these YA books in which waiters always give the characters their unsolicited opinions on people’s orders?
xiv. I assume Madame Dorothea of Brooklyn named herself after this famed Madame Dorothea of Paris. Why didn’t Malcolm go to her about Annabelle? I don’t remember if there ever was a mention of it.
xv. When Lucie tells the truth about Jesse and her powers to Magnus and Will, the PoV changes from James to Lucie with no indication of PoV change:
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xvi. “James thought of the box of matches in his pocket, each one a sort of signal light that, when struck, summoned Jem to his side. He did not know how the magic worked, nor did he think Jem would tell him even if asked.” Just leave this part out, readers will think it’s just magic and that’s it. Now this just sounds that you couldn’t bother to think about it and just tried to explain possible scrutiny away. This instead just points more to the fact that you have no clue how the magic in your world works.
xvii. “James returned to the house, crawling into bed with his coat still on.” James can’t return to the house and crawl into his bed at the same time.
xviii. Take a shot every time the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Durendal is said in TSC
xix. It’s annoying how Matthew speaks so lowly of Charles wanting to keep Alastair a secret when their own society supposedly sucks ass and enables shame and discrimination
xx. Cordelia only accepts Matthew’s affections once she thinks she has truly lost James. Why did she want to kiss Matthew if she didn’t even fancy him? She just selfishly used him and his love to forget her own mistakes, which I didn’t like about her at all. But that of course just fed into the love triangle that Clare is so insistent on writing in each one of her series, and the end couple is always obvious.
xxi. “…and James could remember, painfully, what kissing Cordelia was like, hotter and better than any fire.” I don’t think being burned by fire is good?
xxii. It’s torturous—and not in the good giddy way—how Clare finds even the tiniest excuse to prolong James and Cordelia finally getting together. “I should tell her the truth but Cordelia looked so happy with Matthew, so I didn’t.” Good grief.
xxiii. “Pity and kindness were not love. Only free choice was love; if he had learned nothing else from the horror of the bracelet, he had learned that.” Only a free choice to those who are free to love and go for that love and their dreams without having to make a choice between either. So fuck that.
xxiv. Ari didn’t bring any clothes with her when she left her parents. “She’d have to buy new things.” WITH WHAT MONEY? FROM WHERE? HER “STIPENDS” WENT TO LIVING EXPENSES! EXPLAAAIN
xxv. “At the breakfast table sat Anna’s brother Christopher, and, of all people, Eugenia Lightwood.” Yes, out of all the people in this world that is sitting at the table is Anna’s cousin. Truly odd.
xxvi. “The Institute is the safest place in London when it comes to demons; if he did somehow attack, the whole Enclave would retreat here as a matter of policy.” Not when it comes to the Jack the Ripper one in The Whitechapel Fiend.
xxvi. Will discusses Tatiana’s vengeance for being wronged: “Will sighed. “That was me. I read her diary out loud at a Christmas party, long ago. I was twelve. And I was quite severely punished, so in fact, the Enclave was on her side.”’ No, he wasn’t. And the whole Enclave punished Will? Please. There was no culpability, no apology, and no admission of guilt. And he also broke Gabriel’s arm. This is an attempt afterwards to alleviate the guilt on Will’s end when it comes to Tatiana’s madness. More realistic approach, less let’s-make-Will-more-shiny-and-not-at-all-a-participant-in-Tatiana’s-insanity would be something like: “That was me. I read her diary out loud at a Christmas party, long ago. I was twelve, but that’s on me.” And they would’ve gone on that it didn’t matter because in grand scheme of things it was such a miniscule thing.
xxvii. Take a shot every time the writing tries to stealthily prop up Will and Tessa as good and kind. Clare is really adamant at making the Herondales victims at every turn.
xxviii. “Benedict Lightwood brought down vileness upon his family, and Tatiana could not accept either his culpability or her own.” True, yet funny how the same does not apply to the ones who are on the right side of things. Accepting culpability on all that…
xxix. “He thrust the hand at James, who slashed an iratze across Matthew’s palm, followed by two Energy runes. He would not normally give Matthew, or anyone, more than one, but they would act as knives, cutting through any fog in Matthew’s brain.” One very profound problem (which I will bring up with TMI in time) is that this excerpt reveals that Clare thinks we know how runes work, when she has in actuality laid no groundwork for it. Is there a limit how many runes one can bear at once? What are the adverse effects of too many energy runes? What if you use iratze when you don’t need one? Are there runes that, when used at the same time, might hinder the effect of one another?
xxx. Take a shot every time a character narrates other characters on how much they have changed.
xxxi. “Now, Thomas has lost a sister and a friend as close as his brother, all in one year.” Weird way to say a cousin. You surely mean his cousin as close as his brother??
xxxii. “Grace said, not unkindly, “I’ve come to know Lucie quite well, you know, the last months. She was probably as close to a friend as I ever had.”’ Christopher was her friend, hellooo???
xxxiii. There seems to be a theme that whenever things are getting hot and heavy, something abrupt happens and interrupts the scene. Not that I am complaining, interrupt that awkward shit.
xxxiv. The bodies of the Iron Sisters and Silent Brothers don’t decay, but so what? Everyone else gets burned after dying, why not them also? Are they not inflammable? Also, what a great opportunity to mention Abigail Shadowhunter and David the Silent, but did we just once again wave at that opportunity as it passed by? Yes, we did.
xxxv. “Alastair waved his hand. “Yes, yes. It has been Roman and Saxon and now it will be demon. It has survived plague and pestilence and fire—”’ Best quote.
xxxvi. “It is easy to confuse monstrousness and power,” said Cordelia. “Especially when one is a woman, as one is not supposed to possess either quality.” Again, a weird fucking take for people whose numbers are dwindling and need all the fighting power they can get and half of that power are women
xxxvii. “he had been sure, somehow, that Cordelia would come after him, would find a way. And it did not surprise him at all that Lucie had not left her side.” James sure has faith in his sister to rescue him in dire need. No, Lucie came because Cordelia came. Whatever, what do I care.
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What, in the end, was the true purpose of this trilogy? What merit is to it that it exists? How has The Wicked Powers become richer for having The Last Hours precede it? It’s actually devastating how inconsequential all of this is. The true Belial has been vanquished, but another demon has taken his place as Belial. Is this new Belial even a fallen angel or just some demon? Because otherwise he is not like the rest of the Princes at all. I would’ve hoped that at least one thing, like Emma getting to finish Belial with Cortana, would’ve given this trilogy even a little bit more purpose. 700+ pages and all is still left rather unfinished. Nothing at least feels concluded other than James and Cordelia’s love for each other being stronger than a Prince of Hell is capable of breaking. Blergh.
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im-out-of-it · 5 days
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I love Matthew but I cannot stand the whole Matthew, Cordelia, and James triangle. he had more chemistry with Lucie and that triangle with Jesse would have been extremely more interesting to read. you knew from the second he caught feelings for Cordelia, he wouldn’t be the one to end with the love interest. we know how herondales always win so like this whole triangle is dumb to begin with. it didn’t go anywhere
Matthew and Lucie had so much more chemistry anyways
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“James told me some of it, then. The rumors Alastair spread. Perhaps you think I am terrible, still loving him.”
Cordelia Carstairs, Chain of Iron (pg. 297)
Reminder that these were Cordelia’s exact words to Matthew while talking to him about the rumors
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edwinspaynes · 1 year
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A headcanon: In Chain of Gold, the narration notes in passing that Matthew nicks cologne from Charles. When Alastair integrates with the friend group, this is triggering for him, but Matthew has absolutely no idea about this and continues wearing it. Alastair's too proud and self-sufficient to tell Matthew it's bothering him, but Thomas notices. He thinks that Alastair's feelings for this are private, so he never tells Matthew, either. Instead, he just starts getting Matthew random expensive colognes as gifts. Matthew has no idea why Thomas is being so nice, but is delighted that his friend is thinking of him and pleased to have such nice colognes. Thomas never tells Alastair what he's doing, but he eventually figures it out and is extremely moved.
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4uru · 8 months
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James herondale being my "I CAN FIX HIM" character is actually pretty sick. I fix him by picking him up by the scruf of his neck and putting him on the acespec. I fix him by giving him long luscious hair that he grew out below his shoulders in defiance. Him taking care of his hair is his baby steps to self care and shit. (Complete opposite of my journey). I fix him by giving him BI WIFE ENERGY. HE HAS BEEN THROUGH ALOT (cc's character assassination) im healing him-
(All his shitty actions were cc not him. I ship Jordelia but in a, hes a computer arts major and Cordelia is a literature major who does boxing professionally) they are the bisexual heart attack couple the bisexual in question being matthew fairchild
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