#kieraktina owns my life

[cassandraclare]

in defense of Cristina - spoilers for Queen!

r**** said: hi! i love Cristina as a character, but

 in this book it felt like she only was there to be part of kieraktina. i mean, the most of her scenes were with Mark, or Kieran or both and for me it was as if she had no other role but that relationship.

Cristina begins the book spying on the Cohort (alone.) She brings back the information that Horace has been elected Inquisitor, and how. She is there to comfort Emma because of Livvy’s death, and Emma entrusts her with the tasks of contacting Catarina Loss when she returns to Los Angeles and investigating the ley line mystery. Cristina talks to Catarina (alone), goes to investigate the ley lines (yes, with Mark) where they fight harpy demons; she goes to faerie to save Emma and Julian, brings herself to Adaon to help rescue Emma, Julian, Clary, Jace, Mark and Kieran; she fights in the battle against the redcaps and Unseelie King; she takes part in a war and personally kills Oban, the new Unseelie King, with her own hands, thus literally changing history. And so on.

So do we really think her only role was to be part of a relationship?

Which is not to say her relationship with Mark and Kieran isn’t important to her. It is. Just like everyone else in the book also has relationships that are important to them. Cristina cares a great deal about her own love story and her own emotional life. But I don’t think that’s a negative thing, and I think regarding it as one is somewhat problematic. Perhaps more than somewhat.

Look, I deleted the name of the person who asked me this because my response is somewhat critical and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but this is something I see said about basically every female character ever who dares to have a romantic life she takes seriously or cares about. It is a misogynistic complaint dressed up in progressive language that laments the idea that it’s bad for female characters to “just be there for romance.” It is also not terribly thoughtful about race, or about the fact that this is a complaint that is lobbed especially often at female characters of color — both the overlooking of their contributions to the story, and the negativity toward their being given love lives that are taken seriously.

I’d recommend reading this essay below; while it is specifically about black female characters, this is something I’ve seen echoed across the board when discussions of fandom reaction to portrayals of WoC come up.

https://diversehighfantasy.tumblr.com/post/128926468321/fandom-and-the-intersection-of-feminism-and-race

Cristina is a strong, powerful Latina character who at the end of the trilogy, brings down the King of the Unseelie Court in single combat. She is also adored by two hot guys who she loves, and sometimes they are with her when she does things like attend dangerous faerie revels, break people out of jail, or participate in wars. That does not make those scenes only about them or about her romance with them. Most scenes in books are about more than one thing, but that’s another essay!

The two sexy love interests thing might be something you feel like you’ve seen in books where the girl in question is white (though few resolve as this one does). But part of the reason I wanted to give Cristina a big, epic love story where she’s emotionally and physically worshipped by two powerful guys is because yeah, girls of color don’t see/get that all the time, or very much at all. I don’t think that makes Cristina have “no other role” – I think you have to very deliberately ignore a lot of her story to believe that. But I think it is interesting how often that happens where it comes to WoC characters: how often the things they accomplish are negated or ignored. I also think it’s worth reading the many, many essays written by women of color on the topic of the fact that while “strong, single lady who needs no love interest!” might be seen as an empowering trope for white women, it is not — because of the way women of color have been left out of romantic stories time and again — an equivalent trope for women of color. There’s another great essay here that touches on the language of arguing that a strong love line for a WoC character “diminishes” her role in some way:

Often the black woman is considered “just too awesome” (Michonne) or “too much of a feminist ideal for” (Martha Jones) or “too good for” (Abbie Mills) a love interest and it would diminish her character. Her love life is repeatedly referred to as a distraction from the show – even if it’s a show where everyone else is in relationships…

The whole “this female character of color who has a major romantic plot line has no other role but that relationship despite any and all of her achievements” isn’t a brand-new discussion point in fandom: discussions of media tend to follow patterns formed by our cultural tropes and preconceptions. I’d just encourage people to read many of the excellent essays by WoC on this topic (look for “misogynoir” as a tag) and consider that feminism is intersectional and not one-size-fits-all, and that Cristina being a queen adored by gorgeous guys is maybe not such a terrible thing. And that if Cristina didn’t kill the King of the Unseelie Court and change the course of the future, who exactly did?

[beclynn-herondale]

(For the impersonation) Hey dear, thanks so much for asking and remember your worth it. Clace is my life, Jace owns my life, I’m a lot like Clary and Jace, i LOVE KIERARKTINA!! Cristina is hot, izzy is hot, everyone is hot! Everyone is so beautiful and lovely let’s spread loveEeEeEeeEee! i have swords and i’m not afraid to use it hahahahaha (Hope i got this perfect bb) ❤️👌💕😘💜🧡💙

Sunflower you got this all right, wtf I think you know me so well and I love that.

And I'm not afraid to admit Jace owns my life.

Or that kieraktina and clace own my whole ass life.

Or that I have swords and I am not afraid to use them.

Or that Izzy and Cristina are hot.

Or that Clary is honestly cute and can be scary and I'm kinda like that.

Or that yes I'm like Clary and Jace, so basically Clace's child lmao. How bold of me to say.

Or that I try my best to spread positivity and love and kindness and understanding and empathy and acceptance, do I always meet it maybe not but I try and I'm happy with that.

Or that I stan THE SHADOWHUNTER CHRONICLES SO HARD.

@sarcasticmalecfan summed me up pretty well. Love you.

Thanks for this and for having my back.

And malec and sizzy and kitty and heline of course.

And our queen anna lightwood.