#malcolm fade

[secretly-a-catamount]

It’s canon that it’s sort of a culture of tradition for Shadowhunter families that live close enough to Idris to spend the summer there, right?

So, for the Blackthorns of Cornwall because that’s all I can think about apparently did they take Malcolm with them and made him hide for months on end?

Or did they leave him home alone with the rest of the servants?

[happilyshyturtle]

As much as Malcolm seemed to hate the blackthorns, there’s no way that he didn’t build a fondness for them. I mean he watched them all grow up and has been super close to them for 5 years. Plus even if he mostly helped Julian with Andrew’s madness and helped babysit the blackthorn kids to gain their trust, when Malcolm forces Julian to tell Emma and Mark the secret about how Julian actually ran the institute, he did that to help Julian and not to obtain his trust. I feel like that shows that Malcolm did indeed grow fond of the blackthorn kids, it’s just that his hatred of the past blackthorns and the need to get Annabel back was greater.

Or I could be completely wrong and he may have only helped Julian for another reason.

[themimsyborogove]

My flower book arrived, so I decided to retake my doll pictures now that there’s a Hypatia page for the warlock bouquet 💐

[marrr444]

Some of you have never married a girl you thought you didn't love to protect her reputation then realized you were actually always madly in love with her but she had run off to Paris with your best friend who was also in love with her and your dad didn't let you go to Paris because your little sister had run off to bring back from the dead her ghost boyfriend with the help of a crazy-looking immortal purple-eyed man and it shows.

[inlovewithquotes]

"Don't depend on me too much," he said, so softly she wondered if he knew she would hear him.

"Why not?" She turned her face up to him in the sunlight, blinking. His eyes were the color of jacaranda blossoms.

"Because I'll let you down. Everyone does," Malcolm said, and went back inside his house.

-Lady Midnight

[threewaywithdelusion]

Can we talk about how tightly written the themes are in Lady Midnight?

~~~ SPOILERS ~~~~

Malcolm is the perfect villain for Emma and Julian, because he’s a foil to both of them. When we meet Emma, she is entirely devoted to finding her parents’ killer and getting revenge. The only thing keeping her grounded is the relationships she has with Julian, the kids, and Cristina. She has her Wall of Crazy and multiple times considers placing her need for revenge above other considerations (investigating faerie deaths being illegal, the fact that she could endanger Julian’s attempts to get Mark back, etc).

Malcolm is Emma in another world. Emma where revenge became her be-all end-all. Her dark mirror.

Malcolm is also a foil to Julian. He’s a liar and a ruthless man who will do anything for the one he loves. Once the Blackthorns discover the murders are caused by someone trying to bring their love back from the dead, Julian immediately feels kinship with the killer. He says that if it were Emma who was dead, he would do the same. Julian isn’t driven by revenge the way Emma is, but his loyalty is just as dangerous. Julian is also playing a part the way Malcolm is — pretending that Uncle Arthur is running the Institute — but unlike Malcolm, he has not become completely severed from his true self. Not yet.

So both Emma and Julian can see the worst parts of themselves in Malcolm and both can empathize with his motivations. And that’s before we throw the forbidden love thing into the mix. In the first book, neither Emma nor Julian know about the parabatai curse. They both think their love is only forbidden by law, the way Annabel Blackthorn’s love for a downworlder was forbidden by law. Julian keeps thinking this for another whole book.

More than any of the other series, the Dark Artifices is about the interaction of love and law and government. About Aline choosing to be exiled with Helen and Mark’s relationship with a faerie prince and a Shadowhunter girl (being forced to choose whether he is a Shadowhunter or a faerie and eventually picking both). But especially with Emma and Julian, their story — their fear of discovery, the way they know their relationship is taboo, the close childhood friendship that became love — parallels Malcolm’s story almost exactly.

He is a warning of who they can become if they lose each other, and simultaneously a warning of who they become if they cleave to each other too tightly and put their love above all.

[dearreader-12]

We don't talk about Helen Blackthorn enough imo.

Her father was killed during the war, and yet her loyalties were still questioned because her mom was a faerie.

She was sent to Siberia in exile for YEARS!!!!

Meanwhile her brother was kidnapped and the Clave was like "well he's fae what do we care?"

Her other brother ended up having to almost become a father figure to his other siblings at the age of 12, because Helen wasn't allowed to take care of them!

She was only able to get permission to get married in exchange for being made a public example and humiliated!

Even after her uncle died, Helen was still not allowed to become head of the Los Angeles Institute, despite living in Siberia and doing extensive research on wards, which would later become how the Clave knew that Malcolm Fade was up to something! She would only be allowed to be co-head of the Institute after the Clave was exiled from Idris.

And when she was finally able to reunite with her siblings again they had all grown up so much they didn't want anything to do with her and viewed Julian as their go to person when they needed something! They thought of Helen as a stranger and not their older sister.

[secretly-a-catamount]

Malcolm and Annabel.

[bananacakepie]

I like how a lot of TDA is about the way a person is perceived isn't necessarily the way they really are. Lies and deception are major themes. This is one way it's subtly shown. Nightshade seems to be all right in Lady Midnight, with his dogs and chats with Aurther. Just a harmless, eccentric side character.

Even while rooting for Emma and Julian, the whole "addictive pizza" does seem pretty surprising, to the point I thought Julian was framing him. But then in Lord of Shadows, essentially the first time we hear of him is someone in the Shadow Market confirming: yes, he was a bad man. 

And all of us weren't aware of it because we only saw him from one perspective, the way he presents himself at the Institute. We fell for the same trap that we watched the characters fall for when they believed Julian's lies.

Malcolm and Nightshade = pretending to be a nicer/sanitized version of themselves in front of the Blackthorns in order to hide their true machinations

[roetheninth]

every single time the malcolm fade betrayal hits me so hard because he was their friend!! he had movie nights with them and cried!!! he was the only one jules could confide in!!!! he held tavvy then tried to kill him???!!!!!

[secretly-a-catamount]

I love him, he’s so terrible.

TDA gang fighting Malcolm for the 10th time because motherfucker wouldn't give up

[helenofblackthorns]

the tmi adaptation that lives in my head haunts me because there's truly so many fun things you could do just based off of inserting characters and lore that were introduced later in the series into the plots of the early books. and the most obvious example of this is putting Malcolm Fade in the front and centre of the room when Clary creates the rune that makes you see who you love most

[maybecordelia]

im re reading the messages I sent to my cousin while reading lady midnight

guys I cant

[secretly-a-catamount]

This is a friendly reminder that Malcolm Fade was the one who taught Julian Blackthorn how to tie a necktie.

[inlovewithquotes]

"I would rather be mad my way than yours," said Arthur. "You had so much. Love once, and power, and immortal life, and you have thrown it away as if it were trash by the side of the road." He glanced toward the twitching thing on the altar. "I wonder if she will still love you, the way you are now."

Malcolm's face contorted. "Enough," he said, and a quick look of triumph passed over Arthur's tired, battered features.

-Lord Of Shadows

[mattmurdocksthighs]

THE SHADOWHUNTER CHRONICLES FANCASTS

DOWNWORLDERS

bridget regan as the seelie queen

manny jacinto as meliorn

harry shum jr as magnus bane

jacob anderson as ragnor fell

lupita nyong'o as catarina loss

dianna agron as camille belcourt

alexander ludwig as malcolm fade

diego tinoco as raphael santiago

minnie mills as lily chen

will poulter as gwyn ap nudd